On The Gallian Front: The Gallian-Germanian War
by Heinkelboy05
Summary: March 15, 1935 The Imperial Germanian Reich invades Gallia. What follows shows that a tiny nation could best a military giant. These events will tell a story hidden in the mists of time. A story of friendship and trust, of persecution and hate, and of love blooming even in the flames of war. What follows is a record of this conflict and of those who fought, lived and died. -Jack L.
1. Story Info: Must Read Before Story

**Authors Note**

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

This is my retelling of Valkyria Chronicles but with a few added twists. I'll have it in a different setting, add a few events, and maybe a few new characters. I also might add a few things from other franchises and series, but no promises. Other than that I'll be writing it following the story line of both the game and the anime combined. The following information below you'll need to read in order to fully understand the story that I'm writing. Use this if you need help understanding what I'll be writing. (Note: This is my first fanfic so do mind that.) I don't own any of the characters, games, and such. This is purely for entertainment purposes.) Please Review. I'd like to know your opinions as to the story.

_History of the World Summary_

Five thousand years before the date of this story, the Darcsen Calamity supposedly happened where the native Darcsen tribes of Europa ravaged the continent as well as much of the known world. Only by the arrival of the Valkyrur, a mysterious race of warriors bathed in cobalt blue flames and wielding a spiral lance and shields, waged _"The War of the Valkyrur"_. By the end of the conflict the Darcsens were finally defeated and the Valkyrur were hailed as heroes throughout the continent.

However the Valkyrur would not last. Not long after the events of the war, a man named Anri gathered a large force and began a crusade against the Valkyrur, with the end result being that the Valkyrur being all but wiped out. Anri soon united the peoples of Europa and formed the Kingdom of Archanea, a continent wide union of nation which lasted for about two thousand years. Under the rule of Anri and his descendants, they brought peace, prosperity, and union to the continent.

A little over three thousand years before the year 1935, a radical group who would be later known throughout the world and the years as the Nazis, rose up against the Kingdom of Archanea and overthrew them, killing most of the Royal Family in the process and taking control over most of Central Europa. The Nazis soon established a new nation known as the Imperial Germanian Reich. The Nazi Reich soon spread out and expanded to the East, North, and South, conquering many smaller nations and kingdoms throughout the next three millenniums of it's existence. The Nazis maintained a strained yet somewhat calm relationship with the Roman Empire until the ill fated empire dissolved in the 5th century A.D. Out of the Roman empire came the Principality of Gallia, which was formed in the 3rd century. The nation remained free until an invasion by the Reich in the early 17th century began a two hundred year reign of the country when Gallia's Princess at the time was wedded in a political marriage with the ruling Archduke.

Things in Europa remained relatively unchanged throughout the centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire. Nations like France, England, and Spain started heading out throughout the world and started establishing colonies throughout the new world. One of those colonies, the United States of America, managed to gain it's independence from Great Britain and established a government based on the principles of freedom and equality. It made it's first mark on the world where they and nations of Great Britian, France, and Russia helped Gallia achieve their independence from the Imperial Germanian Reich in the early 19th century. This event, as well as America's values which were the polar opposite of the Nazis, earned the United States the ire and hatred of the Nazi Empire and ever since then the two nations have been natural enemies.

When the Napoleonic Wars ended, Germania used the opportunity to strengthen their holdings and expand their forces and territories eastward, which did not go unnoticed by the rest of the world. The nations of Europa soon fully realized the threat that the Imperial Germanian Reich posed to the world. A series of alliances were formed in an attempt to halt the expansion and aggression of the Germans. The nations of Western Europa formed the Atlantic Federation while those of the Balkan Peninsula formed the Balkan Confederacy.

Soon in the 1880's, nations of the Atlantic Federation soon began expanding their control over Africa, the Middle East, and in Asia to replace the colonies they had lost in the Americas. Though thankfully most of the territories established belonged to those of the Federation, though the Reich managed to take a few territories in Africa and a few in Asia and the Pacific as well.

Tensions in Europa soon reached into a violent era when in the summer of 1914, a prominent German official named Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in the city of Sarajevo, the capital of the Germanian province of Bosnia, by a Serbian anarchist and extremist named Gavrillo Princip. This started a long and devastating conflict known throughout the world as the Great War which pitted the Imperial Germanian Reich against all of Europa. The four long years of trench warfare created a stalemate that was only ended when on November 11, 1918, the Reich called for an armistice with the Treaty of Versailles officially signed a year later.

The results of the war would have a significant factor upon Europa. Germania managed to conquer the nation of Finland in the war, annexing it into the Reich when the war had ended. The Russian Empire officially dissolved and was turned into the Soviet Union, a communist country under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. And finally, Gallia with it's armies under the command of General Belgen Gunther, managed to keep the German forces at bay thereby helping to preserve Gallia's independence.

Throughout the years from 1919 to 1935 there was a relative peace within Europa with the only fighting being Border Skirmishes held along the borders of Germania where the nations of Europa where probing the border for any weaknesses in the German defenses, though each probing attack was eventually repulsed by the German military.

The only real major conflict that occurred since the Great War wasn't in Europa but in America. In January of 1932, the Soviet Union launched an invasion of the United States by coming through Alaska. The Soviets managed to gain ground in the first months of the conflict but soon America revved into gear, turning the tides of the war with the U.S. victory at the Siege of Anchorage. The American managed to push the Russians out of Alaska and invaded Eastern Russia, seizing the key port of Vladivostok. The war ended in July of 1934 with the Soviet Union surrendering to the United States. The borders remained unchanged when the peace treaty was signed between the two nations.

Another event that occurred in Europa happened in 1928. On one fateful night in the Imperial Palace in the Germanian capital of New Berlin, terrorists breached the security perimeter and fired into the palace. Germania's 98th Kaiser Charles and 98th Kaiserina Marianne were killed in the resulting hail of bullets with another member of the Royal Family being blinded and crippled by the resulting attack.

The oldest child of Kaiser Charles, Byzantium zi Britannia, soon took the throne as Germania's 99th Kaiser with his wife Hrist zi Britannia taking the position as the 99th Kaiserina alongside him. Under their rule, the Imperial Germanian Reich soon becomes much more powerful than it had previously been. And on March 15, 1935...the opening shots of the Gallian-Germanian War occurred. And this is where their story begins.

**Basic Information**

Basic knowledge about Valkyria Chronicles and this story that you'll need to know.

**Setting: **Valkyria Chronicles is originally set in a location reminiscent of 1930's Europe. This story will actually be set in 1930's Europe, 1935 Europe to be exact. However I'm keeping the 'Europa' title for it because many nations call Europe, 'Europa' in their native language. The nations will be that of historical terms like England, France, and the Soviet Union etc. There will be some other things like fictional alliances and such.

**Military: **The armies set in the story will have their military weapons, vehicles, and technology set as they would be in 1945, by the end of the Second World War along with a few weapons that they developed but never produced and probably some from the post-war period from 1946-1950. Their uniforms are also those that they wore in the Second World War. Gallia will have the weapons they have in the series along with a few added weapons given to them from other countries. One big difference is that in the Valkyria Chronicles universe both men and women can enlist and fight in the military compared to only men in actual 1930's Europe. So expect to see some women fighting in the German forces. Also, in the Gallian military, infantry units have metal plates for added protection covering their shoulders, forearms, hands, chest, and knees depending on what kind of class they're in.

**Ragnite:** A precious blue colored mineral mined throughout the world. It's used in everything from medicine, to military ammunition. Many nations desire its value and start wars in order to obtain as much as they can. Gallia has the highest concentration of Ragnite ore in Europe currently, which makes it a prime target for many larger and more powerful European nations.

**Ducats: **The official currency of Gallia.

**Reichsmarks: **The official currency of the Imperial Germanian Reich

**U.S. Dollars:** The official currency of the United States.

**Darcsens:** A race of people that are Europa's oldest indigenous inhabitants. They are characterized by their dark-blue hair along with their shawls or other various accessories that bear the distinctive Darcsen pattern. Allegedly, they terrorized the continent thousands of years ago which was known as the Darcsen Calamity. They were defeated by the Valkyrur, a mysterious race of warriors that became to be seen as the saviors of Europa in an event called "The War of the Valkyrur". As punishment, they were stripped of their last names and have been persecuted and segregated to this day. They have spread over much of the globe and they can be found on pretty much every other continent in the world.

**Valkyrur:** Otherwise known as Valkyria, they are a mysterious race of warriors known for defeating the Darcsens and saving Europa. Their race has long since died out with only a few descendants surviving to this day. They reportedly came into battle armed with lance and shield, bathed in a blue flame, their eyes a deep red and hair of silver. Most of their designs such as their weapons follow a type of spiral motif that is seen in many aspects about them.

**Yggdism:** One of the dominant religions in Europa, second only to Christianity. It follows the belief that the Valkyrur were the children of God and would bring salvation to all of humanity. Their symbol is a blue Valkyrian spiral. They are considered unfavorably by the Christian faith.

**The Great War:** A long bloody war between the Germanian Reich against Gallia, the Atlantic Federation, the Balkan Confederacy, and the Soviet Union. It lasted from 1914-1918. The Germanians managed to conquer most of southern Gallia, northeastern France, all of Finland, and parts of the Soviet Union and the Balkans. After 4 years of a long and bloody stalemate, the nations of Europa signed the Treaty of Versailles, ending the conflict. The war left millions dead on both sides and utterly humiliated Germania as they had failed to gain anything from the war.

**Gallian military structure: **Gallia has a policy of universal conscription. Each school gives military education such as firearms training and military tactics. This gives them a large pool of people to call upon in case of a war. The Gallian Military has three main branches: the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Its navy is made up of fast ships with modest firepower though they have some bigger ships with bigger guns. They're designed to patrol and protect Gallia's coast. The navy has a force of 50,000 men.

The air force has a force of 10,000 men. They're planes are hand-me-downs that's given to them by the United States. This makes they're planes less technologically advanced compared to Germania's.

The army is split into two groups: the Regular Army and the Militia. The Regular Army is Gallia's main military force, while the Militia are civilians called up to defend their country in the case of an invasion. But during times of peace, the Militia also acts as a sort of National Guard, assisting in the civilian population and helping keep the peace. The soldiers in the Militia have little experience and training compared to the Regular Army. This causes soldiers in the Regular Army to view the Militia as nothing more than cannon fodder. In peacetime it has a military force of 50,000 men. But in times of war it can call in its reserves to bring the total number to 350,000 men in the Regular Army and 250,000 men in the Militia or 500,000 total men and women.

Infantry in the Gallian military are divided up into five different classes: Scout, Shocktrooper, Engineer, Lancer, and Sniper. The characteristics about them are labeled below.

**Scout:** Scouts are the primary reconnaissance units of the military. Armed with medium-long ranged semi-automatic rifles, hand grenades, Ragnaid (Ragnite infused medicine) canisters, and under-barrel mounted grenade launcher. Scouts wear only light armor to increase their mobility but have low defense. In combat scouts are relatively weak in comparison to other infantry units and are ineffective against armor, however they make up for their shortcomings with their long range primary weapon and devastating grenade launcher. The scout unit also has excellent peripheral vision and can intercept enemies at long range, evade enemy fire, counter attack and launch cooperative assaults with adjacent allied units.

**Shocktrooper:** The Shocktrooper class is the core infantry unit in the Gallian military. Armed with close-medium range sub-machine guns or light machine guns, hand grenades, and under-barrel mounted flamethrowers. They are heavily armed soldiers who excel at close ranged anti-infantry combat, especially urban and trench warfare and have been shown throughout to make up the bulk of infantry in large scale assaults and defensive actions. Shocktroopers have high defensive and offensive abilities particularly against entrenched troops and fortifications. While they lack the range and peripheral vision of a Scout, they make up for these shortcomings with greater survivability and vastly superior intercept damage potentials. Shocktroopers have average mobility, can evade enemy fire, intercept enemy combatants, counter attack and launch cooperative assaults with adjacent allied units.

**Engineer:** Armed with the same medium-long ranged semi-automatic rifle as that of a Scout, along with a pistol, and a variety of Ragnaid canisters and tools, an engineer's primary role is to support allied soldiers and armor by rearming spent munitions, repairing damage to tanks, healing wounded infantry units, disarming both anti-tank and anti-infantry mines and rebuilding collapsed or damaged barricades. Though Engineers have fairly poor accuracy, low offensive and even lower defensive abilities, are ineffective against armor and lack the peripheral vision of scouts they are able to intercept enemies at long range, evade enemy fire, counter attack and launch cooperative assaults with adjacent allied units.

**Lancer:** Lancers are the Gallian armies anti-armor specialists. Armed with high-power launchers carrying a variety of warheads, Ragnaid canisters, and equipped with heavily armored blast shields which help protect them from mines, cannon fire and mortar blasts, Lancers excel at attacks against armored vehicles. Lancers have relatively low mobility due to their heavy armor and weapons.

**Snipers:** Snipers are armed with long range bolt-action rifles fitted with telescopic sights and small Ragnaid canisters. Their primary role on the battlefield is to eliminate enemy officers and provide support for friendly units. Lacking explosive weapons, they are also relatively ill-equipped to take on enemies in cover. Protected with only light armor, they have low defensive capabilities. Snipers have high mobility due to being lightly armored though.

Major Powers

**Imperial Germanian Reich: **Formed three thousand years before the year 1935. They are one of the most powerful, hated, and feared nations in Europe and the world. They are a Totalitarian Fascist Absolute Monarchy where the Royal Family has all the power. The first Kaiser, Otto von Britannia founded the empire and created the foundation for the Reich which still exists today. The Nazi Regime has ruled the Reich since it's founding and they are known to be very fierce expansionists and imperialists. They believe that the Royal Family are the descendants of God himself and preach that their will is that of God and mankind, meaning that their orders are to be followed without question. They persecute the Darcsens the harshest out of all of Europa. They segregate them into ghettos or put them into concentration camps where they are forced into slave labor and work in the Ragnite mines and the weapons factories in order to fuel the Nazi Reich and it's juggernaut war machine. Their military is the strongest in Europa but not invincible as it has been defeated before by other major powers. It is also multinational since their troops comes from all of their provinces and territories. Every soldier wears a patch on one of their shoulders with the flag of the province where they originate from. Their national flag is that of the Kriegsmarine's (WW2 German navy) war ensign that they used from 1935-1938.

Currently the Nazi Reich is having internal troubles with a large resistance group called the Archanean Liberation Front or ALF for short. They are citizens within the Reich who wish to see Germania destroyed and seek to restore the Kingdom of Archanea. They are led By Lucina, the young Princess who is the last living descendant of Anri and the heir to the Archanean throne.

The Imperial Germanian Reich rules over a vast amount of territory within Europa, along with parts of Asia and Africa. It has separated their territory into provinces with a Viceroy, to govern the territory while answering only to the Nazi Kaiser and Kaiserina. The full list of provinces and overseas territories are listed below. Many are German colonies from real life Imperial Germany.

**Europa**

-Germany (Birthplace of the Imperial Germanian Reich)

-Switzerland

-Poland

-Austria

-Hungary

-Czechoslovakia

-Slovenia

-Croatia

-Bosnia and Herzegovina

-Ukraine

-Moldova

-Belarus

-Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia

-East Prussia

-Norway

-Sweden

-Finland

-Alsace-Lorraine (Area along the French Border that was won by Germania in the Franco-German War of 1870-1871)

**Africa**

-Cameroon

-Togo

-German East Africa (Tanzania)

-German Southwest Africa (Namibia)

-Congo (in real life was Belgian colony but in this universe it belongs to Germania)

**Asia**

-German East Indies (Indonesia and East Timor)

-Tsingtau (German Port in China)

**South America**

-German Guyana (Dutch Guyana/Suriname)

**Principality Of Gallia: **The small nation between France and Germania. It is one of the oldest nations in Europa with it's founding being in the 1st century A.D. They are a democratic monarchy with a Parliament along with the Royal house of Randgriz which has ruled Gallia since it's founding. The ruler of Gallia is called either the Archduke or Achduchess depending on the gender of the ruler. The current heir to the throne is Cordelia gi Randgriz. The nation was for a time under the rule of the Imperial Germanian Reich from the early 17th century until when the United States, Great Britain, and Imperial Russia supported their drive for independence which they achieved in the early 1800's. During the occupation the German Royal Family had a political marriage between one of their princesses to the current Archduke. This means that Cordelia is related by blood to the Nazi Royals, making her their distant cousin. The nation is considered to be the only truly free nation left in Europa since they do not belong to the Nazi Empire or the two alliances that dominate Europa. The nation has a policy of neutrality, saying that they will not take sides in any war though they have had to take a side when the Germans invaded their country in the Great War. Their only true ally is the United States who continually supports them with whatever supplies they can send. And although Gallia is a democratic monarchy, they are still somewhat stuck in the old ways with the noble houses holding power over the common people. Out of all the nations in the world they posses the largest supply of Ragnite which tends to make them seem like a large target. The nations that make up Gallia are Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. (NOTE: Gallia has no overseas territories so they are now either controlled by Germania, France, or Great Britain and Ireland.)

**Atlantic Federation: **A group of allied nations, including several world powers, established to try and rein in the actions of Germania. Their military along those of the Balkan Confederacy and the Soviet Union isn't as strong as Germania's so they focus more on defensive wars. They occasionally receive military aid from the United States. They also try to establish military alliances with the Soviet Union and Balkan Confederacy in times of war with Germania. However, things in the Federation are beginning to change. Italy and Spain are growing rather close to the Germans and French is resorting to more desperate means to try and keep the Nazis at bay. Great Britain has distanced itself from Federation politics, seeing the alliance become more and more corrupt, forming a close relationship with the United States and Gallia. The nations that make up this alliance are as follows: Great Britain and Ireland, Iceland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and their colonial Empires. Their official flag is that of the Atlantic Federations in the game though they are more inclined to use their national flags.

**Balkan Confederacy: **An alliance of nations similar to the Atlantic Federation. They seek to preserve the people of the Balkans independence from the Nazi Empire. The nations that make up this alliance are as follows: Serbia (controls both Montenegro and Kosovo), Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus. Their flag is that of the Empire from the game though like the Atlantic Federation, prefer to use their own national flags.

**U.S.S.R. (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics): **Another world power, more commonly known as the Soviet Union, this country is Russia and it's ten other republics (Ukraine, Finland, Belarus, and the Baltic states don't count as they are part of the Nazi Empire). They are the only Communist country in the world and one of the nations that gets into conflict with the Nazi Empire the most. They are naturally distrustful of other nations but they won't object to an alliance against the Nazis if they have to. In 1932 they invaded America in an attempt to take back Alaska though their invasion was quickly turned around and they were eventually defeated in 1934. Their flag is...well you all know what their flag looks like.

**U.S.A. (United States of America):** Formerly a British colony, and now a major world power, it fought for its independence and succeeded. Throughout their history they have annexed new territories and grew more powerful over the decades. This leaded to many worrying about their sudden rise to power. The United States are allies with most nations in the world excluding the Nazi Empire. They are the only ally that Gallia has and they continue to provide support for them in forms such as weapons and vehicles along with political and economic support. What makes them different from nations in Europa is that the people there consider the Darcsen people as equals in society. This causes some people in Europa to treat Americans with disdain. That in addition to not being involved in the Great War when they were needed most. The U.S. history remains the same through most of it's history from the American revolution till up through the Civil War. Their national flag is that of the original thirteen stars in a circle along with the thirteen red and white stripes.

_List of U.S. States in this Story (Areas they control) _(Each region of the United States are fully part of the United States. They have their own government and state government and are fully supportive of their country.)

\- Fifty United States

\- Canada (and St. Pierre and Miquelon

\- Greenland

\- Australia

-New Zealand

\- Cuba

\- Puerto Rico

\- Haiti

\- Dominican (Dominican Republic)

\- Philippines

\- Caribbean Islands (Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Barbados, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Martinique, St. Lucia, Dominica, Montserrat, Antigua, Barbuda, Guadeloupe, St Kitts and Nevis, Virgin Islands (American and British), Anguilla, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Bermuda.)

\- Pacific Islands (Pitcairn Island, American Polynesia (French Polynesia), Kiribati, Cook Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tonga, Niue, North Samoa (Samoa), South Samoa (American Samoa), Wallis and Futuna, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Micronesia, Palau, Guam, Marianas Islands.)

Other facts about nations

_Imperial Germanian Reich_

Population = 650,000,000

Capital = New Berlin

_United States of America_

Population = 530,000,000

Capital = Washington D.C.

_Principality of Gallia_

Population = 30,000,000

Capital = Randgriz

**Note: For the population everything is based on modern day estimates of today's countries.**

**Non-Canonical People**

These people aren't part of the Valkyria Chronicles series. Some are historical, some are made up, and some are brought in from other franchises and series.

_Atlantic Federation_

**Winston Churchill: **Prime Minister of Great Britain and Ireland

**King George VI: **King of Great Britain and Ireland along with their colonial possessions.

**Albert Lebrun: **President of France and along with its colonial possessions.

**Henri Phillipe Petain:** A French General who has developed ties to the Nazi Empire.

**Charles De Gaul:** French General who is a strong supporter of the Federation and a patriot of France.

**Benito Mussolini: **Leader of Italy and its colonial possessions.

**Alfonso XIII: **King of Spain and its colonial possessions.

_Balkan Confederacy_

**Joseph Tito: **President of Serbia and Chairman of the Balkan Confederacy.

_Soviet Union_

**Joseph Stalin:** Premier of the Soviet Union during Soviet-American war.

**Dimitri Novogod: **Current Premier of the Soviet Union.

_United States_

**Franklin Delano Roosevelt:** 32nd President of the United States.

**Jack Lawrence: **(The main OC of the story)An American volunteer with the Gallian Militia. Jack is the son of an American ambassador who is now currently the Secretary of State. He spent part of his childhood traveling abroad in Europe. This in return gave him valuable experience to European society and politics. He is also fluent in most languages in Europa due to his travels. Fascinated by life in the military, he always wanted to be a soldier ever since he was only five. At the onset of the Soviet-American war which lasted from 1932–1934, where the Soviet Union tried to reclaim Alaska, he used forged papers to enlist in the military at the age of 15. There he served with distinction, earning several medals including the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Siege of Anchorage along with the title "Hero of Anchorage". He quickly became a public figure, celebrity, war hero, and poster boy as the war dragged on. He was widely known and accepted by the public with many seeing him as a hero. When the war ended with the Soviet surrender, he was discharged from the U.S. Army having achieved the rank of Captain. Despite his protests that he had wanted to stay, there was nothing he could do. His father decided that he should try and study abroad. So in mid-1934, at the age of 17, he traveled to Gallia and enrolled at Randgriz University. While there he met and befriended Welkin Gunther, another university student. He would end up getting his next taste of combat as he joins Welkin and the rest of Squad 7 to repel the Nazi invasion of Gallia. Due to his military experience in the United States Army, he is considered proficient in all classes in the Gallian armed forces, though he tends to prefer the Shocktrooper class. Due to him being a foreigner, they only give him the rank of Corporal. He is also the Quartermaster, which means he reports to Welkin about new recruits, the state of the squad and their equipment etc.

Family wise, Jack has a mother who was a nurse in Europe before meeting his father the Secretary of State. He has two older brothers and older sister who are also in the service. His oldest brother John, is serving in the U.S. Marine Corps as a Master Chief and assigned to the Navy as well and his second oldest, Alan, is in the Army Air Force as a pilot. His older sister, Nephenee is a member of a Special Forces Unit with his twin sister Catherine working at the OSS. (Born on July 4, 1916. He's 18 by the beginning of the Gallian-Germanian War)

**Alistair Koller:** An American war reporter for the New York Times. He made a name for himself covering the Border Skirmishes in Europa, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and became known during his coverage of the Soviet-American War. He was sent to Gallia to cover the Gallian-Germanian War where he meets Irene Ellet, another reporter who is a major fan of his work. He met Jack Lawrence during the Soviet-American War and ended up reporting about his exploits, with the two becoming mutual acquaintances. (27 years old)

Imperial Germanian Reich

(Royal Family)

For the Nazi Royal Family I decided to use the royal family from the Code Geass series. They are pretty much the same in terms of personality as in the Code Geass series except for a few changes. I didn't change their last names because it would have sounded weird without them. As time goes by I might add more characters from this series such as their knights and Lelouch's friends. I'll also include Lightning from the Final Fantasy series as Lelouch's knight. Just a note, even though there are Code Geass characters, this is not intended to be a crossover. This is strictly a Valkyria Chronicles story.

Just a little note, the previous emperor had a lot of consorts. So this means that all the emperors children listed below are only half-brothers and sisters.

**Byzantium zi Britannia aka 'Hell Incarnate': **The 99th Kaiser (German for 'Emperor') the Imperial Germanian Reich. He ascended to the throne when his father Kaiser Charles and Kaiserina Marianne were assassinated by terrorists seven years ago. He rules his empire with an iron fist, and silences all those who oppose his rule. He appears to not care if his plans cause peoples suffering. In short he is a cold and heartless bastard. Under his rule, the military has expanded and the Empire's power grew stronger at the expense of the living conditions of the people. His ultimate dream is a Europa united under Nazi rule, and eventually the world. And he'll stop at nothing and kill anyone who gets in his way. (35 years old)(Note: His appearance is that of the Inquisitor from the Dragon Age Inquisition trailers)

**Hrist zi Britannia aka 'The Angel of Death': **Byzantium's wife and the co-leader of the Nazi Empire alongside him. Not much of her history is known, for it is a complete history. She simply appeared on the scene when Byzantium at the age of eighteen years old announced the Hrist was to be his wife. She is rumored to come from a prominent line of Valkyria and has the powers of one as well. She is exactly like her husband and has a bit of a sadistic side for those who fail her. And she has gained quite a reputation within the Reich, earning her the nickname 'Angel of Death' for both her beauty and the trail of bodies she leaves behind in her wake. (35 years old though through her good genes she appears to be ten years younger at the age of 25)

**Odysseus eu Britannia aka 'The Mediocre Prince': **Byzantium's half-brother and First Prince of Germania. He is somewhat indecisive compared to Byzantium. He serves as his brother's adviser though Byzantium rarely listens to his advice. (34 years old)

**Guinevere su Britannia aka 'Germania's Marie Antoinette': **Byzantium's half-sister and First Princess of Germania. She is one of Byzantium's staunchest supporters. She is a warmonger and firm believer in the Reich's superiority. She often spends her wealth on extravagant clothes and parties. (28 years old)

**Schneizel el Britannia: **Byzantium's half-brother, Second Prince of Germania, and its Prime Minister. He is a strategist on par with his younger brother Lelouch. Though he appears to support his brother, he is in fact against his rule, though he can't do anything about it. He is a carbon-copy of his father, the previous Emperor, he seeks to use political intrigue to remove his brother from the throne so that he can take control of the Reich for his purposes. Byzantium knows this, and has his spies watch his every move. (27 years old)

**Cornelia li Britannia aka 'The Witch of Germania': **Byzantium's half-sister and Second Princess of Germania. She holds the rank of Field Marshal, an elite rank in the Germanian military being that above a general, and is the head of its ground forces. She has a strong distrust of foreigners, and is very protective of her younger sister Euphemia. Though she is decisive and straightforward, she values her sister's safety above anything else. Byzantium considers her a valuable asset to his plans as she is an excellent strategist. (27 years old)

**Clovis la Britannia: **Byzantium's half-brother and Third Prince of Germania. He is somewhat timid and narcissistic. He is the Viceroy of the Province of Poland, though he shows little interest in politics. He is more interested in parties and fashion than the politics of governing a territory. (24 years old)

**Euphemia li Britannia aka 'Euphie': **Byzantium's half-sister, Third Princess of Germania and Cornelia's younger sister. Her personality is in stark contrast to what one would expect from Germanian royalty. She has a kind heart, open minded, and despises conflict in any form. She is more of a pacifist and a reformist and clashes with Byzantium as to his policies. She and Lelouch's best friend Suzaku are in a romantic relationship that is kept secret from the rest of the royal family except for Lelouch. (16 years old)

**Carine ne Britannia: **Byzantium's half-sister and Fifth Princess of Germania. She is one of Byzantium's staunchest supporters. She loves violence and supports her brother's military efforts. (15 years old)

**Lelouch vi Britannia aka 'The Black Prince' or 'The Demon of Germania': **Byzantium's half-brother and Eleventh Prince of Germania. Lelouch is the eldest son of Kaiser Charles and his last wife the Kaiserina Marianne. Seven years ago, his parents were assassinated with his little sister becoming blind and crippled in the attack. He has long suspected that Byzantium was responsible for their deaths, and for seven years has been searching for evidence. And unlike Schneizel, he makes his distrust and opposition to his brother's rule known. He is a Field Marshal within the German army and is widely loved and respected by his troops as well as the people who view him as being worthy of succeeding his brother. In secret, he is quietly organizing a rebellion with his colleagues set to overthrow his brother and build Germania anew. (17 years old)

**Nunnally vi Britannia: **Byzantium's half-sister, Fourth Princess of Germania, and Lelouch's younger sister. During their parent's assassination, Nunnally was rendered blind and crippled, having to rely on others for help. She is one of the reasons Lelouch opposes Byzantium. Lelouch is using this rebellion to help create a more peaceful world for his sister to live in. (14 years old)

**Rolo vi Britannia: **Byzantium's half-brother, Twelfth Prince of Germania, and Lelouch's younger brother. He helps serve his sister as her primary caretaker. (16 years old)

_(German Wehrmacht)_

The age of these men are what they would have been in 1935.

**Suzaku Kururugi: **A Japanese man serving in the Germanian army and best friend of Lelouch. Being a foreigner, other members of the military look down on him. But they can't do anything about it. Mainly because he serves as Princess Euphemia's knight. He is one of the people involved in Lelouch's conspiracy to overthrow his brother. (17 years old)

**Colonel Alexander Isaac: **A member of Lelouch's staff and close friend. He serves Lelouch as his second-in-command and sometimes moral compass. He and Lightning are part of Lelouch's conspiracy to overthrow his brother. What Lelouch doesn't know, is that the two of them plan to put Lelouch on the throne because they believe that he's the only one who can change Germania. He and Lightning are in a romantic relationship that is kept secret. (19 years old)

**Lightning (Claire Farron):** Lelouch's knight, a member of his staff, and close friend. She serves as Lelouch's personal bodyguard. She is a member of his conspiracy to overthrow his brother. She and Alexander are in a secret romantic relationship. (19 years old)

**Erwin Rommel aka 'The Desert Fox': **Holds the rank of Grand Marshal and is the Commander-In-Chief of the Germanian military. A renowned strategist and tactician, he taught both Cornelia and Lelouch how to be commanders. He is an honorable man when it comes to war. He treats prisoners of war fairly, doesn't persecute or massacre Darcsen civilians, or treat his men like expendable pawns. He claims that he is loyal to Germania, regardless of who rules it. This makes both enemy and ally alike to respect him. (43 years old)

**Baron Manfred von Richthofen aka 'The Red Baron': **Another veteran of the Great War, he helped form Germania's air forces. As such he was made head of the _Luftwaffe_, their air force, and given the rank of Field Marshal. He has a daughter, Emilia von Richthofen, who's a pilot in the _Luftwaffe_ and her father's pride and joy. (42 years old)

**Herman Goring:** A veteran pilot of the _Luftwaffe_ during the Great War. He and Manfred von Richthofen were in the same squadron during the war and became rather close friends during their time as pilots. Now he serves alongside his friend Richthofen as a General and Second-in-Command of the _Luftwaffe_. He is known as a fervent supporter of Byzantium. (43 years old)

**Grand Admiral Karl Donitz: **Head of the _Kriegsmarine's_, Germania's naval forces. (44 years old)

**Heinrich Himmler: **Head of the _SS_, Chief of Public Security, and loyal supporter of Byzantium. These guys are the Nazi elite and have a terrifying reputation. They are a black uniformed group that serve not only as the Nazi royal family's guards but also as elite divisions in their army. They are an utterly ruthless group that take no prisoners. They are also put in charge of running the Darcsen concentration camps and take part in massacres. (34 years old)

**Joseph Goebbels:** Head of the _Gestapo_, Minister of Propaganda, and loyal supporter of Byzantium. Goebbels is in charge of running the _Gestapo_, the Nazi Empire's secret police force. Byzantium gives them unlimited authority as he uses them to root out his opponents, silence opposition, and spy on supposed dissidents. (37 years old)

**Other Major Characters**

These are characters from the Valkyria Chronicles universe that are major characters in the series and will be a part of this story. Other characters may be added to the squad as the story progresses.

(Main Squad 7 Members)

**Welkin Gunther: **Lieutenant. Commander of Squad 7. Commands through personal tank _Edelweiss_. Class: Scout. (22 years old)

**Alicia Melchiott: **Sergeant. Welkins second-in-command. Class: Scout. (19 years old)

**Isara Gunther:** Corporal. Welkins adopted Darcsen sister. Drives and maintains the _Edelweiss_. (16 years old)

**Brigitte "Rosie" Stark:** Corporal. Class: Shocktrooper. (27 years old)

**Largo Potter:** Sergeant. Class: Lancer. (36 years old)

**Zaka: **Darcsen. Sergeant. Commander of tank _Shamrock_. (33 years old)

(Other Squad 7 members)

**Eleanor Varrot**: Captain. Commander of the Third Militia Regiment of which Squad 7 is a part of. (35 years old)

**Scout:** Aika Thompson, Cherry Stijnen, Freesia York, Hermes Kissinger, Juno Coren, Melville Young, Montley Leonard, Musaad Mayfield, Nancy Dufour, Noce Wordsworth, Ramona Linton, Susie Evans, Ted Ustinov, Wavy.

**Shocktrooper:** Aisha Neumann, Alex Raymond, Coby Caird, Dorothy Howard, Edy Nelson, Hannes Salinger, Jane Turner, Kevin Abbott, Mica Hawkins, Nina Streiss, Lynn, Salinas Milton, Vyse Inglebard, Wendy Cheslock.

**Lancer: **Audrey Heitinga, Hector Calvey, Jann Walker, Nils Daerdan, Rosina Selden, Theold Bohr, Walter Nash, Yoko Martens, Elysee Moore.

**Engineer: **Claudia Mann, Dallas Wyatt, Herbert Nielson, Homer Peron, Karl Landzaat, Knute Jung, Nadine, Ramsey Clement.

**Sniper:** Catherine O'Hara, Cezary Regard, Marina Wulfstan, Emile Bielert, Oscar Bielert.

**Others: **Fina Sellers (Medic), Leon Schmidt and Kries Czherny (Mechanics and Engineers), Father Adam Hendricks (Chaplain), Alistair Koller (American) and Irene Ellet (War reporters)

(Squad 1)

**Faldio Landzaat:** Lieutenant. Commander of Squad 1. University friend of Jack and Welkin. Begins to develop feelings for Alicia. (23 years old)

**Ramal Valt:** Sergeant. Faldio's second-in-command. Develops a crush on Isara. (16 years old)

(Nobility)

**Former Kaiser Wilhelm zi Britannia II: **Wilhelm was born as a German Prince, soon ascending to the throne of Germania in 1888 as the 97th Kaiser. He was the typical German ruler and led his nation through the Great War. But as the conflict grew worse and the stalemate continued on, support for his rule began to collapse. When he called for an armistice, that was the final nail in the coffin for him. He was forced to abdicate in favor of his younger brother Charles who became Kaiser in 1919. He was exiled from Germania and was disowned by his family. He wandered Europa for several months until he arrived in the Principality of Gallia. He was found by his blood relatives the Archduke and Archduchess of Gallia, who took pity on him and took him in. As he lived with them, he became part of their family, and an Uncle to Cordelia when she was born. After Cordelia's parents died in a tragic accident in 1925, their last will made Wilhelm the Regent for Cordelia. Much to the anger and chagrin of Gallia's aristocracy and government. He now serves as the figurehead and face of Gallia and helps teach Cordelia what she'll need to do when she is old enough and ready enough to take the throne of Archduchess. He seeks to redeem himself for the decisions he made in the past and feels that he needs to atone for what he's done. And he feels that by helping Cordelia become a better ruler than he ever was is a good way to start. Despite him now fighting against the Nazis, he's determined to keep his new found home of Gallia safe and sound. Despite his origins, he is well liked by the Gallian people for his attitude to helping the commoners and visiting various towns to help improve anything they need. (75 years old.)

**Cordelia gi Randgriz:** The sixteen year old Princess of Gallia, scion of the Randgriz royal family which has traces of the Valkyrur within them. And also through a political marriage centuries ago, she is related, though somewhat distantly, by blood to the Germanian royal family. After her parents died, she ascended to the throne, though due to her young age she was not yet crowned as Archduchess. Very reserved in nature, she entrusts most of the affairs of state to her regent, her uncle the former Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germania. She is very close to her Uncle, who is about the only family that she has left in the world. (16 years old)

**Maurits von Borg:** Borg is the Prime Minister of Gallia. He is the true ruler of Gallia, manipulating events behind the scenes while Cordelia's role has been reduced to that of a figurehead. He despises Wilhelm II, seeing him as nothing more than a Nazi through and through and feels he's not worthy to be Cordelia's regent. (68 years old)

**Georg von Damon:** Damon is the General of the Gallian Regular Army. An aristocrat who gained his position using family connections, he is a venal coward who looks down at the Gallian Militia and sees them as worthless scum compared to his Regular Army. He is generally incompetent in battle and becomes incensed when things don't go his way and when others steal his glory. One major thing he dislikes about his job is that his immediate superior is the regent former Kaiser Wilhelm II who is Supreme Commander of the Gallian Armed Forces. (54 years old)

**Baldren Gassenarl:** Count Gilbert Gassenarl's oldest son. Serves as a Colonel in the Gallian army. He is extremely patriotic and protective of Gallia and seeks to drive the Nazis from Gallian soil. He also has a strong dislike of Darcsens and foreigners alike. One of the thing he and his sister dislike just as much is the Former Kaiser Wilhelm II who's serving as the regent for the current heir to the throne. (24 years old)

**Audrey Gassenarl:** Baldren's younger sister. She serves alongside her brother as a Major and commander of their armored forces and her expertise in armored warfare has made an impression on the German forces who fight her. She is a devout follower of Yggdism and shares her brother's dislike of Darcsens and foreigners. One of the thing she and her brother dislike just as much is the former Kaiser Wilhelm II who's serving as the regent for the current heir to the throne. (23 years old)

(Civilians)

**Irene Ellet:** A reporter and correspondent for GBS (Gallian Broadcasting Station) radio. She is attached to Squad 7 as a war correspondent for the Militia, wanting to bring the uncensored truth to the people. She was inspired to become a reporter by reading the stories written by Alistair Koller, whom she one day hopes to meet. (25 years old)

(Germanian Invasion Force)

**Maximillian Gaius von Reginave:** The Germanian Prince in charge of the invasion of Gallia. He is the leader of the Triumvirate, a group of military Generals consisting of Selvaria Bles, Berthold Gregor, and Radi Jaeger. Each of these Generals was selected to be a part of the invasion. These Generals are among the best the Reich has to offer. Maximillian is the adopted son of the late Kaiser Charles, and since he is not originally of royal blood, he is treated with disdain by some members of the royal family and nobility. Maximillian plans to use massive force and the technologically advanced prototype weapons of the Reich to crush the Gallian military. Byzantium know that Maximillian has other plans for this invasion, but somehow he doesn't know what they are. (29 years old)

**Selvaria Bles:** A proud, noble, yet distant woman who serves Maximillian with absolute loyalty through her devotion to him. She serves him as his loyal commander and his knight. The blood of the legendary Valkyria flows through her veins, granting her superhuman powers in battle when she wields her Valkyrian lance and shield. At a young age she was held as a test subject in a Germanian research facility until Maximillian rescued her. (22 years old)

**Berthold Gregor**: Berthold is level-headed and merciless, feared even among Germanians for his brutality and lack of compassion for even his own troops. He views the Gallian Militia as being nothing more than filthy peasants. He suffers from a leg injury given to him by Jaeger during the Great War when they fought on opposing sides. He is known as one of the most fanatical supporters of the Nazi Reich and the ideals it stands for. He believes that any nation or people that don't bend their will to that of the Kaiser and Kaiserina don't have the right to exist in this world. (51 years old)

**Radi Jaeger:** Jaeger fought against the Empire when his country, Finland, was invaded during the Great War, but was defeated by Gregor and then released by Maximilian to join the ranks of the Triumvirate. Jaeger does not fight for Germania out of loyalty, but rather to help his own country gain independence through Maximilian's victory. He is a bit of a rake who puts an emphasis on chivalry in battle and respects those who do the same. (36 years old)

**Johann Oswald Eisen:** A loyal yet fainthearted soldier afraid of fighting on the front lines, he later gets strength and confidence after becoming Selvaria's personal engineer. Selvaria inspires Johann to believe in himself and he sees the kinder side of the General. He now serves as her second-in-command. (23 years old)

**Emilia von Richthofen 'The Grey Siren': **The only daughter of the famed 'Red Baron', Manfred von Richthofen. She has always admired her father's ability as a pilot and she wanted to become just like him. Growing up at her families estate in near the city of Warsaw in the Germanian Province of Poland, she took her father's old plane up in the air for practice and soon demonstrated her skills as a pilot to her father. She adopted her father's code of honor he used during the Great War along with some of the tactics he used in that conflict but added a few of her own as well. When she was old enough she entered the New Berlin Imperial Military Academy, Germania's most prestigious military academy, and quickly rose through the ranks. Upon her graduation she was given the commission of Captain and given command of a full squadron of the Reich's finest pilots. Honing her skills in combat during the Border Skirmishes, she became the Ace of Aces in the _Luftwaffe_ earning a kill count of over 300 enemy planes. Now she serves in the Gallian Invasion Force, piloting the latest prototype in the German Air Fleet: the Me 262 jet fighter. (20 years old.)

**Iohan 'Blunt' Comescu:** An_ SS_ Lieutenant in charge of the Nazi's Counter-Insurgency Forces. These are the men and women in the _SS_ charged with hunting down rebels and insurgents inside Germania, and recently their main focus has been upon the Archanean Liberation Front. Comescu is an oddity among their forces...for he is in fact a Darcsen. Much about him is a mystery and what _is_ known about him is not much indeed. He was born in a Darcsen slum town outside of the Romanian capital of Bucharest. When he was 17, he smuggled himself and a rifle inside of Germania and began hunting German soldiers in the Black Forest. He was soon captured and brought before Byzantium who offered him a choice: either use his skills with a sniper rifle for a better use...or die horribly and painfully. He chose the former. For the next five years, he and his soldiers, dubbed 'The Headhunters', they travel in Germania as they wipe out every rebel cell that they come across down to the last man. As his brutal and sadistic reputation grew larger, he acquired the nickname "The Darcsen Demon of the _SS_". He is well known for his signature phrase "Better to fight for them, than against them" when he describes why he fights for the Nazis. That phrase in tern has come to be used by many people as their explanation for fighting for the Reich. He is always accompanied by his loyal subordinate Dredger. (25 years old)

**Dredger: **A Corporal among the Headhunters and Iohan's faithful second-in-command and quite possibly his Lieutenant's first and only real friend. He is a hulking giant, standing at over seven feet tall and having muscles that would make a body builder jealous. His body is covered with heavy armored plating of his own design and his helmet has a face mask welded onto his _Stalhelm_ helmet, making it cover his whole face. The man's a juggernaut in his own right, able to take on an entire platoon of men on his own since his armor is very resilient and durable, able to take up loads of damage and keeping Dredger alive. He rarely speaks, only willing to hold an actual conversation with Iohan. (30 years old.)

Will add other characters as time goes on. They may come from my own imagination, from other games in the series, the anime, or from other franchises or series. Other than that this is about it for my information page. Will continue to update with new chapters as soon as I can. And please remember to review.

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**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	2. Prologue: Declaration of War

**Just a reminder for if anyone here is confused about Germania. In this universe, the Nazis have ruled Germania since the day it was founded over three thousand years ago. They along with the Gestapo, the SS and the Nazi royal family were also established at this point. So by the time of this story, they all still exist and have been around for three thousand years. That's all, enjoy the story.**

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_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_"Before I start this I must apologize for my crass if not somewhat blunt way of storytelling. You see, I'm more used to handling a rifle then I am with a pen. But I feel that this is a story that you must know. One...that should not be forgotten._

_On March 15, 1935, the Imperial Germanian Reich began its assault on the nation of Gallia in earnest. A formal declaration of war was made on Gallia. Though it was a small conflict by modern standards, what followed would show that a tiny nation, and a handful of brave heroes could best a military empire. These events would tell a story hidden in the mists of time. A story of friendship and trust...of persecution and hate...and of love blooming, even in the flames of war. What follows is a record of this conflict. And of those who fought, lived, and died. My name is Jack Lawrence, and this is their story._

_A story...of resistance."_

_March 10, 1935_

New Berlin. The capital of the Imperial Germanian Reich. Located inside the main province of Germania, where the Reich was founded ling ago, this city stands as a message of German power and prestige under the Nazi government, which has ruled the nation since it's founding. Its population is full of supporters for the Reich.

On this warm and sunny day, New Berlin is holding one its annual military parades. In the center of the city, in a massive open boulevard that led to the Brandenburg Gate, citizens stood in the massive stands on each side behind rifle wielding soldiers just itching to catch a glimpse of the Reich's finest soldiers that would come down the massively wide road right in front of them.

Directly opposite of the Brandenburg gate, overlooking the boulevard stood a tall government building that sported a large balcony that sat directly above the road. This balcony could seat over several dozen government officials, military officers, or members of the Germanian Royal Family. In the middle of this balcony, sitting in an elaborate chair, sat Byzantium zi Britannia, the current Kaiser of Germania.

A man of only thirty-five years, he could fill a room just by his mere presence alone. His body is covered in dark silvered armored plating from head to toe, with the exception that you can see part of his face through his helmet. His cold red eyes peered through the openings of his mask, eyeing the crowd before him. Rumor had it that a single gaze from his eyes made hardened men tremble in fear. In addition, his black cape that he wore that day gave him a more intimidating appearance. It was expected however. As the Kaiser of the Germanian Reich, he was expected to be seen as a strong and powerful leader. One that could defeat any enemy that stood against him and quell any threat to his rule. And Byzantium knew in his mind that there was no one else in the Reich who could inspire the same amount of fear as he did.

He stepped into the position after his father, Kaiser Charles zi Britannia, and the Kaiserina Marianne vi Britannia, one of Charles consorts and later wife was killed in an assassination by terrorists seven years ago. When he took power, he immediately made a series of changes. He disbanded the old Royal Guard and replaced them with the _Teutonic Knights_, an elite organization that became the Royal Families private army as well as they protectors. The _SS_, long known for being the most elite units of the German military, also became the security force for the German government. For them, alongside military service they would become the protectors of the Reich's noble regime. He also expanded the _Gestapo_, the Nazi secret police force, and placed them under the supervision of the_ Inquisition_, Germania's Intelligence agency. With them, no enemy of the Reich was safe if they chose to hide inside of their own borders.

Surrounding him were some of the most important people in the upper echelons of Germanian high society. On his left were members of his family and the top officers of Germania's military. And on his right were members of the nobility and various government officials.

The people on his left were divided into three rows. In the back row sat his military commanders and some of his loyal supporters. They were all seating as followed: Grand Marshal Erwin Rommel, Commander-in-Chief of the Germanian military. Next was Grand Admiral Karl Donitz, head of the Germanian navy called the _Kriegsmarine_. Field Marshal Baron Manfred von Richthofen, head of their air force, the _Luftwaffe_, came next alongside his second-in-command General Herman Goring. Finally, there was Heinrich Himmler, head of the _SS_, and Joseph Goebbels, head of the _Gestapo_.

In the next row sat members of the royal family and some of their knights. All of them were clothed in elaborate suits or dresses or military uniforms. From left to right sat as followed: First Prince Odysseus eu Britannia, First Princess Guinevere su Britannia, Second Prince Schneizel el Britannia, Second Princess Cornelia li Britannia and her knight Guilford, Third Prince Clovis la Britannia, and finally Fifth Princess Carine ne Britannia.

Finally in the front row sat as follows: Third Princess Euphemia li Britannia and her knight Suzaku Kurururgi, Colonel Alexander Isaac, Eleventh Prince Lelouch vi Britannia and his knight Lightning, Fourth Princess Nunnally vi Britannia, and Twelfth Prince Rolo vi Britannia.

Everyone sat anxiously waiting for the parade to start, but that's not all that they were waiting for. Byzantium had told them that he had a speech prepared for the event that he wanted to show them.

Noticing something was off, Alexander surveyed those that were seated around them and noticed that someone was missing: Prince Maximillian. Normally he would be present at events like these, him and his Valkyrian bodyguard Selvaria Bles. He quietly whispered to Lelouch "Where's Maximillian? Shouldn't he be here?"

Lelouch took his amethyst eyes off of the square and calmly answered back "I noticed. This isn't like him."

Lightning noticed their conversation and added "He, Byzantium, and Maximilian's Triumvirate have been in a lot of closed door meetings recently. Maybe his speech for the parade will tell us why."

"The Triumvirate?" questioned Alexander "What the hell are these guys up to?"

"I don't know." replied Lelouch "And I don't like it. We need-'

Suddenly from behind the three of them hear "Be quiet you three."

They turn around to see Cornelia with a scolding look on her face. "Someone's coming. Hush up and pay attention."

Out of the building came a uniformed officer who approached Byzantium, got down on one knee, bowed his head and spoke in English "We are ready to proceed with the parade mein Kaiser."

Byzantium let out a sigh and replied "Very well then. Begin at once."

The officer got back up and proceeded back inside the building. Not a moment later, the speakers began filling the air with the sound of patriotic Germanian music. Then one of the speakers began to announce to the crowd.

_"**Proud citizens of the Imperial Germanian Reich. Welcome to the parade which on this day marks the 3000****th**** anniversary of the formation of our glorious Reich. Today we shall display to you and the world once again why Germania's military is the greatest above all others. Now behold as you look to your left, as we greet the soldiers of the 15****th**** Armored Infantry Division. Commonly nicknamed as the 'Black Knights', they serve directly under the command of our great prince Lelouch vi Britannia."**_

And true to his word, out came the soldiers, all in their dress uniforms, helmets and boots shined to perfection, their Kar98k bolt-action rifles presented over their right shoulder, and marching in formation. They came out marching in squares ten men wide and ten men deep. The Germanian military allowed both men and women to enlist. As such, the women wore the same kind of uniform as the men did. But even so, they wore that uniform with pride.

The crowd immediately burst into cheers and shouts as the people jubilantly cheered for the soldiers. Dozens of people in the crowd waved small replicas of their national flag as the soldiers marched on by.

From up on the balcony, Lelouch eyed the crowd. From what he could see, there weren't many in the crowd who were not cheering. Inside his thoughts he summarized '_It appears that New Berlin is completely populated with Byzantium's supporters. This is most troublesome.'_

Lelouch was brought out of his thoughts by Lightning nudging his shoulder. "What's the 'Black Prince' thinking about now?" she asked.

"Oh nothing. Just about some unforeseen circumstances is all," Lelouch said with a smirk appearing on his face. He then returned his gaze back to the parade.

As each group of soldiers passed by the balcony, they turned their heads towards those seated, and continue marching onward until they were out of view. After ten squares of men had passed by and out of sight, the speakers once again came back to life.

_"**And how was that ladies and gentlemen? Those troops sure looked intimidating right? Well you've seen nothing yet. Up next, are the men and women who serve in our Panzer Divisions. The strongest tank divisions on the continent, these tanks make up the core of our fighting forces. With them at the lead, our victory in any war is assured."**_

Suddenly the rumbling of tanks began to come from the end of the street. Then out came a line of ten King Tiger tanks, one of the largest tanks fielded by the Germanian military. They were massive in size, with thick sloped frontal armor, a large long barreled 88 millimeter cannon, and two MG42 machine guns; one in the main turret next to the cannon in a coaxial position, the second in a fixed yet traverseable position in the hull at the front of the tank, there was also a single MG42 machine gun mounted next the turret hatch. All of this while covered in forest camouflage added to the tanks appearance.

The commanders of each tank stood outside their turret hatch from the waist up. They appeared wearing their distinctive black uniforms, radio headsets around their necks, and their black side caps. They faced towards the crowd, giving the crowd a salute as they passed on by.

The parade continued on like this for another hour as various units from the _Wehrmacht_, _Kriegsmarine_, _Luftwaffe_, _Teutonic Knights_, _SS_, Colonial units from Germania's colonies, and several other notable units marched on by the crowd. By the time it was over the cheers from the crowd had died down a little bit as their vocal cords had been strained from the constant cheering. And once again, the speakers began to broadcast to the crowd as members of the crowd joined in for the singing of the Germanian national anthem "Sieg Heil Germania"

_Truth and Hope in our Fatherland_

_And Death to Every Foe!_

_Our Soldiers Shall Not Pause To Rest_

_We Vow Our Loyalty!_

_..._

_Old Traditions They Will Abide_

_Arise Young Heroes!_

_Our Past Inspires Noble Deeds_

_Sieg Heil Germania!_

_..._

_Immortal Beacon Shows Our Way_

_Step Forth And Seek Glory!_

_Hoist Your Swords High Into the Clouds_

_Sieg Heil Germania!_

_..._

_Our Kaiser Stands astride this World_

_He'll Vanquish Every Foe!_

_His Truth and Justice Shine So Bright_

_Sieg Heil His Brilliant Light!_

_..._

_Never will He Be Overthrown_

_Like Mountains and Sea!_

_His Bloodline Immortal and Pure_

_Sieg Heil Germania!_

_..._

_So Let His Wisdom Guide Our Way_

_Go Forth And Seek Glory!_

_Hoist Your Swords High Into the Clouds_

_Sieg Heil Germania!_

"Sieg Heil Germania! Sieg Heil Germania!" came from the crowd as they shouted it to the high heavens above. Then the soldier who had appeared before the parade walked up to a podium that had been set up on the balcony before the events started. He looked onto the crowd and spoke confidently into the microphone "And now ladies and gentlemen, to end this day's momentous event, we have a special treat for you. Give a warm round of applause for a speech about to be given to you by none other than the Kaiser himself."

The crowd suddenly burst into cheers once more, but louder than they had ever been all day. And this continued as Byzantium got out from his chair and walked to the podium, waving his arm to the crowd as he approach it. He then signaled with his hand for the cheering to stop and the crowd eventually died down. And with his booming voice he spoke into the microphone to deliver his rousing speech which had kept many people in suspense for a long time.

_"**My people. Soldiers and Citizens of Germania. Today marks a historic day. One that will be remembered for many years to come. This day is the day when our great Reich was built. You all know how this happened. During the Calamity thousands of years ago, the Darcsen people terrorized this continent and the people who lived in it. Only by the arrival of the mighty Valkyrur, were they finally driven into the holes that they now cower in. Many years later, it was my family's ancestors, our noble House of Britannia, who united many of these lands to form the Imperial Germanian Reich and have ruled it ever since that day. They envisioned a Europa, strong, prosperous, and united under one banner. A Europa that would never again bow before the Darcsens. Thousands of years later, we still continue to make great progress towards that goal. Much of Central, Northern, and Eastern Europa has been united under our rule. Here they live under the protection of our armed forces, who continually watch for threats both external and internal. Here they live free from a resurgent Darcsen threat. Here they live protected from our enemies. The Atlantic Federation, the Balkan Confederacy, the Soviet Union, and even the United States seek to destroy us and reverse all that we sought to build together. I solemnly vow as the 99****th**** Kaiser, to continue to lead Germania on this righteous path and lead its defense and its efforts to military victory."**_

"And again with your brother's egotistical speeches. Why did we even bother to come here?" asked Alexander as Lelouch let out a slight chuckle at his remark.

_"**You all know how I came into this position. I did not ask to become Kaiser, it was forced upon me. Seven years ago, my father Kaiser Charles and his wife the Consort Kaiserina Marianne, were brutally murdered in an assassination years ago by terrorists which left one of my own siblings blinded and crippled in the attack."**_

Lelouch's blood began to boil upon hearing Byzantium mention his didn't tell anyone but to a few select people. But he had long suspected that Byzantium had orchestrated the assassination. He had always been hungry for power, and he desired to have the throne. So Lelouch believed that he found men to take them out so that he could inherit the throne and the country itself. For seven years he searched for proof, but every time he got close to a lead, it would slip through his fingers and it didn't matter right now. Right now he needed to know what this whole speech was about.

_"**Seven years ago, our nation was broken. We were forced by our enemies to sign a treaty at the end of the Great War that utterly humiliated our great nation. Seven years ago, I asked each of you for time. And you have given me that time. You. The strength of our nation, and the holders of its dreams. In the time you have given me, I have rebuilt our nation. I have rebuilt its armies. I have rebuilt our strength. And I have rebuilt our pride. Our enemies shudder at our return to strength. And those in our ranks that seek to weaken us from within have been reeducated. They have been given new insights into our cause. We have shown the world what our nation has always meant to be: a superpower like no other. But our work is far from over. For there is a grave injustice that must be rectified."**_

Suzaku's eyes widened with worry as he looked over to Lelouch and questioned "What the hell is he talking about?"

"Whatever this is, this isn't good," he replied with the same amount of worry.

Now everyone in the balcony looked over at Byzantium as many wondered now where his speech was going and what he was about to say next.

_"**A century ago, the nations of the Atlantic Federation along with the United States, stole Germanian lands and reformed the Principality of Gallia. Our traitorous blood relatives of House Randgriz, had conspired with our enemies, breaking a sacred trust we had held with them. When they took these lands from us, they took with them the lands bounty of Ragnite ore. These lands rightfully belong to the Reich. And they will once again. For the past several months, me and my adopted brother Maximillian, have built a massive army. One more powerful than any other we have built before. Armed to the teeth with the latest designs from our factories, and led by Maximillian himself along with his Generals of the Triumvirate, they shall annihilate my traitorous cousin Cordelia gi Randgriz's forces and reclaim what was once ours. And soon, the swastika will fly high above its capital as their people rejoice to be once again a part of our great Reich. But we are not the only ones who have our eyes on Gallia. The traitors have allied themselves with the United States. And the corrupt leaders of the Federation prepare to sink their fangs into Gallia. But they will never take it. Once Gallia is retaken, our work will soon bear fruit. We must prepare for a great war, the final war. And it will end with the triumph of our Reich. The mailed fist of Germania's legions will challenge our enemies. And if the jackals will not surrender Europa to us, then we shall take it by force. DEFENDERS OF GERMANIA'S DREAM, OUR TIME HAS COME AT LAST! SIEG HEIL!"**_

"Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!" chanted the crowd as they applauded Byzantium's speech. But even as the crowds cheered with happiness, Lelouch and his friend's faces were frozen with shock and disbelief with what they had just heard. The truth now appeared in front of them: Byzantium had just declared war on Gallia.

* * *

Hours later, at nightfall, Byzantium was hosting a party at the royal palace in celebration of their soon-to-be invasion of Gallia. Members of the nobility, Generals, and other dignitaries mingled with each other on the ballroom floor. Byzantium was speaking to his family, all minus Lelouch.

"Excellent speech dear brother. I love how you invoked your little declaration of war," applauded Guinevere as she took a sip of her glass of champagne. She always supported her brother's war efforts along with Carine. And she hoped that he would fulfill Germania's dream of a united Europe.

Carine chimed in and asked excitedly "When is the invasion scheduled to start? It'll happen soon right?"

Byzantium just let out a light laugh. He simply patted Carine on the head and answered "It was supposed to start today after my speech. But Maximillian still has to move some of his troops into position so it's been delayed until the fifteenth."

Guinevere let out a light scoff of disgust over his statement. Byzantium was aware that not all of his siblings thought much of Maximillian. He didn't think much of him either. But one thing he couldn't deny is that he was a useful pawn in his future plans. So he had to defend him so that his usefulness could be extended.

"Is there something wrong dear sister?" he asked half-jokingly and half seriously.

After taking one last sip from her glass she spoke "To think that he has the gall to postpone an invasion. He should have attacked now, while we still had the element of surprise."

"You can't rush these kinds of things, they take planning, coordination, strategy. I would have done the same thing," defended Cornelia as she interrupted the conversation.

"Why should anyone do that? Gallia is weak. We could crush them with one swift blow, then move on to-" countered Carine.

"You underestimate them. Gallia may not have a military as powerful as ours or ant other nations, but they will put up a resistance. That nation won't fall without a fight," interrupted Schneizel explaining their situation.

"Don't you think that this decision was made too rashly? If we invade Gallia, it would prompt the Americans to declare war on us," inclined Odysseus.

"You worry too much. Maximillian has assured me that Gallia will fall within a month. And America won't risk a major war. Even if they would, it would take too long for them to mobilize a force to defend the Gallians. By that time the nation will already be ours. Everything will be fine," assured Byzantium.

* * *

Lelouch, Alexander, Suzaku, and Lightning watched from afar from the other side of the ballroom as Byzantium talking to his other siblings.

"Look at him. Acting all proud and confident," said Suzaku with a degree of anger in his voice.

"We always knew he would do something like this. I just thought that we would have our rebellion set and in place by that time," added Lightning making sure that only they could hear her.

They all knew what she was talking about. Byzantium's rule had made him many enemies among the people. His policies expanded and rebuilt the military at the cost of living conditions for millions. The four of them knew that the longer Byzantium was on the throne, the more Germania would suffer. So for the past two years the four of them had been secretly building a rebel army that would rise up and overthrow his brother. They had planned to put Lelouch on the throne as he was popular among the common people and they all knew that he could put the Reich on a better path. However, it seemed to be in vain for Germania was about to be dragged into another war. One which in the eyes of many people in the nation, was all but certain that it would end in a German victory.

_"For all these Germans attending the party. None of them would now the sheer magnitude of the events that were set in motion. Nor the consequences of what these actions would bring upon the world." - Jack Lawrence_

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	3. Welcoming Party

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_March 15, 1935_

_"Bruhl. A small town located on the Gallian-Germanian border. A town with a population of a few thousand, it was known throughout the country for its fine cheeses and fresh bread that was shipped throughout the nation. Bruhl was a peaceful and quiet area of the country. But now, that peace would be shattered. –Jack Lawrence."_

On a quiet dirt road near the border, two university students marched towards the nearby town of Bruhl. The one in the front was a young man, about twenty-two years old. He had short brown hair and eyes. The man wore a simple white shirt covered by brown leather jacket with several pockets, blue jeans, and brown shoes. Slung over his shoulder was a medium-sized blue carry-on. The man behind him had blue eyes and short black hair. He wore a simple white shirt like his friend, a blue jacket, a newsboy cap, brown pants and hiking boots. While the man in front seemed to be enjoying the walk, his counterpart seemed to be lagging behind, getting very exhausted by the endeavor. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and decided to stop and catch his breath.

"Welkin can we please stop for a few minutes? I don't know how much longer I can keep this up," gasped the young man as he stood hunched over gasping for air.

Welkin stopped walking, then turned on his heels to look at Jack. "It's alright Jack. Bruhl's not that far now," he explained.

"When you say things like 'not that far', I don't know if that means its two miles away or twenty," said Jack through his deep and haggered breaths.

Welkin couldn't help but let out a small laugh at his friends comment. Jack always had a glib remark ready no matter what the situation was. That was one of the things that Welkin always like about his friend.

"It'll be alright. I know that you can make it," he encouraged.

"Alright then," conceded Jack "but I'd rather take a truck ride back to Randgriz." And with that comment he and Welkin resumed their journey towards Bruhl. While walking, Jack couldn't help but observe the countryside.

The road to Bruhl was merely a dirt road. On the right side there stood a low stone wall while on the right sat a small steam. And all around them were rolling green hills, along with a few scattered farms and windmills. Add the fact that it was a calm, sunny day. No one could deny that this seemed like a nice, quiet place to live. It made Jack understand why Welkin loved it here.

Up ahead they could see a truck moving slowly with a small group of refugee's walking beside it. From the look of it, they appeared to be a small family. There was an elderly woman holding a young girls hand, as well as two men, one who appeared to be in his forties and another in his twenties.

"Look, must be refugees leaving Bruhl," said Jack pointing out the group to him.

That didn't surprise Welkin. Ever since the speech the Germanian Kaiser gave a few days ago, it appeared that everyone on the border was leaving for the safety of the capital or the several refugee camps that the government had set up near the coastlines. For a moment, a peculiar thought entered his mind. Officially the people from Germania were called Germanians. But people outside their nation simply called them 'Germans' since it was easier to remember. _'And probably because it sounded a lot catchier to say,'_ Welkin thought. But still, they were the reason as to why he was coming home.

* * *

_Flashback: Five days earlier_

_"Randgriz University. One of Gallia's most prestigious colleges. Located just outside the capital city of Randgriz, the university held some of Gallia's best and brightest students. Though there was usually a buzz of activity throughout campus that was not the case for today. In the Rec Room, a large group of academy students, Jack and Welkin included, stood or sat around a radio listening to the Germanian rally being held in New Berlin. Since Germania was a nation hostile towards Gallia, any news from there spread quickly throughout the country." - Jack Lawrence_

"**Once Gallia is retaken, our work will soon bear fruit. We must prepare for a great war, the final war. And it will end with the triumph of our Reich. The mailed fist of Germania's legions will challenge our enemies. And if the jackals will not surrender Europa to us, then we shall take it by force. DEFENDERS OF GERMANIA'S DREAM, OUR TIME HAS COME AT LAST! SIEG HEIL!"**

_ The voice of Kaiser Byzantium zi Britannia boomed out of the radio as his speech came to an end. Jack turned off the radio as the students began whispering among themselves. The speech had now given them reason to worry. And all throughout the room, came statements from the people were wondering what had just happened._

_ "What does this mean?"_

_ "The guy just threatened us."_

_ "Does this mean that there'll be a war now?"_

_ "These guys want a fight? Well then let's give them one."_

_ Welkin and Jack just sat next to the table that the radio was on. Jack had a surprise look on his face while Welkin had more of a look of worry. Jack had noticed it and was confused as to why. Normally Welkin was a carefree person, and Jack never saw him this upset before. He tried to reassure him and try to figure out as to why. "Welkin, you okay? There something you worried about?" he asked him._

_ Welkin looked at him and quietly answered "My sister, Isara. She still lives in Bruhl."_

_ It now made sense to Jack. He remembered meeting Welkin's little sister. And he remembered that Welkin's hometown was Bruhl. A town that, in the case of a German invasion, would bear the brunt due its proximity to the border. Welkin was probably worried about the safety of his little sister. And due to the speech that they had just heard, he had cause to worry._

_ "What are you going to do now?" asked Jack._

_ Welkin didn't answer for a few moments. He looked as if he was collecting his thoughts or wondering how he was going to answer the question. Then, he calmly got up and out of his seat and responded "I'm going to leave for Bruhl. I have to get Isara out of there."_

_ Jack let out a light sigh and got out of his chair as well. "So, when do we leave?" he asked with a slight smile on his face. _

_ Welkin's eyes widened a little bit with surprise. He hadn't expected that kind of response from Jack. "You want to come along? What if the Germans invade?" questioned Welkin._

_ Jack just continued to stand there and smile. "Gallians aren't the only ones who know how to fire guns. If the bastards come knocking I'll be ready for them," he claimed._

_ Welkin didn't want to endanger his friend. But he knew that he would need help in order to get his sister to safety. So he would have to simply let Jack come along with him to Bruhl. "All right then, I'll write to my sister and tell her we're on our way. You talk to the Headmaster about us taking a small break so that we can get her," he ordered._

_ "I can do that. The old man will probably let us go considering what just happened. Plus, I'll tell our friends that they won't be seeing us for a while," added Jack._

_ "Alright, let's get going, we leave tomorrow," informed Welkin as both he and Jack left the Rec Room._

* * *

The two of them had just passed the truck when Welkin took one last look of his surroundings and commented "I haven't been down this road in years. It really hasn't changed that much." And to Welkin this was true. Everything was exactly like he remembered. The trees, the scenery, the windmills. He now finally felt like he like he was home.

"Yeah, I guess. You know, this all reminds me of something," Jack explained as he turned around to look at the truck continuing on behind him.

But Welkin didn't hear him. He had spotted something in the stream that had caught his attention. Upon seeing it, his eyes widened with amazement "Wow. Already!" he exclaimed.

"Oh come on. My stories aren't that bad are-" said Jack jokingly as he tried to explain what he was trying to say. But his sentence was cut short when he turned back around and saw that Welkin was no longer in front of him.

"Welkin?" he asked as he scanned his surroundings trying to get a glimpse of his friend. He finally found him kneeling next to the stream that ran on the left side of the road. "The nature boy see's something," he muttered "why does this not surprise me?"

As he was walking toward Welkin, he could see that he took off his carry-on and took out a small notebook and pen. He then sat down and quietly began to write something inside his notebook.

What had caught Welkin's attention was a small school of fish he had spotted from up on the road. They were medium sized, so they were easy to spot. They were mostly green with slight hints of red on their sides. They were trying to swim against the current and as such, they were swimming mostly in one place. Welkin took the time to sketch the fish in great detail.

Jack saw this and let out a slight laugh as he sat down next to Welkin. "We walk for hours, you don't listen to me when I ask you for a break, but you stop because of a couple fish?" he question out of disbelief.

"Not just any fish, this is a Shining Trout," corrected Welkin. "They normally don't come out this early in spring," he informed.

"Well, I'm glad they decided to show up. I needed the break from all the walking," admitted Jack. And with that note he laid down on the soft grass to rest his legs while Welkin continued to sketch away in his book. And there they were, neither of them aware that their situation was about to change.

* * *

_Elsewhere, in Bruhl_

The streets were filled with trucks and people as they marched out of town. These were the people of Bruhl. They were evacuating the town due to the recent aggressive actions by the Germanian government. Each of the people on the street were carrying bags or suitcases filled with everyday essentials such as clothes, hygienic supplies, even food. Everything they would need once they reached the refugee centers near Randgriz. They couldn't afford to carry all of their worldly possessions with them as their safety was more of a concern then that of the things they owned. The people leaving the city were leaving with somber looks on each of their faces. This was their home, they didn't want to leave. But what choice did they have. They didn't want to get caught up in a German invasion, end up dying in a battle. So their only choice now was to leave the town for the sake of their loved ones.

Two of these people, a woman in her late thirties, was holding the hand of her young child, a boy about five or six years old. Each of them was carrying a small backpack, carrying like so many others, the items that they would need on their long journey with the exception that the woman was holding a small basket filled with bread in her free hand. They were marching with the rest of the refugee's when the boy saw a small squirrel that they were passing. Like the little boy he is, he immediately broke off from his mother and chased after it.

"Albert, come back here," his mother cried. But it was too late, her son was already engrossed in chasing the small animal. The squirrel darted from left to right as it tried to get away from the boy. It soon made a break for the left. The boy continued to run straight ahead as he watched the squirrel run in a completely different direction. He then immediately ran into something and nearly stumbled backwards and fell.

He looked up to see a young woman, about nineteen years old. She had long brown hair tied into two long pigtails divided by a red scarf. She was wearing a light blue dress uniform that had a single white stripe running down the middle and a leather belt that had a few small pouches. She also had finger-less gloves on, leather boots, and light blue thigh high wool leggings. Around her left arm was an armband that showed the words 'Bruhl' below a small drawn picture of the Sister Mills, a pair of massive stone windmill towers in the center of town. This coupled with the fact she was armed with a semi-automatic hunting carbine, meant that she was a member of the Town Watch, which acted like somewhat that of a local police force.

"Albert, what are you doing? You'll be in trouble if you stay here," commented the girl.

"Alicia, thank goodness you've caught him," thanked the mother as she had finally caught up with her son. "And she's right Albert. If you stay here, the scary Nazis will get you," scolded the woman who was now talking to her son.

"Don't worry, Alicia and the town watch will take care of them! Right?" asked Albert as he turned his gaze to her.

Alicia didn't know how to answer that. In truth, there was little the Town Watch could do. The German Army and the town watch were completely different adversaries. The Watchmen were made out of volunteers who had little to no experience in combat. They were armed with outdated rifles no longer used by the military, were only about fifty in number, and had few heavy weapons.

In contrast, the Germans had all the advantages. They were well armed with the latest weaponry, highly trained, and highly equipped. They would come in massive numbers, from hundreds to even thousands. And they'd bring with them tanks, artillery, maybe planes. The town watch would be lucky if they would last even five minutes. But Alicia decided to put on a brave face for Albert's sake.

"Of course, the Town Watch isn't going to hand over Bruhl to the Nazis," said Alicia confidently.

"But from what I've heard, the German commander is pretty tough isn't he?" asked the woman with worry in her eyes.

Alicia knew who she was talking about. She heard all about how some prominent Nazi Prince would be leading the invasion. She didn't know much about him. Just what she thought of him personally. "He's a Germanian Prince. His name's Maximillian I think. He's probably not a very good commander. It's most likely just for show," she said trying to calm her down.

"I sure hope so," she responded, still feeling uncertain.

"Hey, come on, we need to get moving!" came a shout from farther up the road. The two of them had been spotted. They knew that they had to wrap this conversation quickly.

The mother then handed Alicia the basket of bread. "Here, this is the last of the bread you managed to make with us before this all happened," she explained.

"Thanks Ma'am," thanked Alicia as she accepted the basket "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to help you out more."

"Don't worry. Your work with the town watch I more important. And you've been a great help at the bakery ever since my husband passed away," she said, her demeanor now changed.

"The bread you bake is already excellent. You'll go far, I know it," she added as she patted Alicia on her shoulder.

"Thanks, I hope I'll see you again," said Alicia.

"You too. Goodbye for now," said the woman as she and her son rejoined the stream of refugees leading out of Bruhl. Alicia looked on at them as they departed and slowly went out of view. But just before that she caught a glimpse of Albert giving her a quick salute. Alicia simply smiled and gave him one in kind.

She then took a moment to look up at the sky. In her heart she wondered what would happen in the coming hours. She hoped that at least, just today, nothing bad would happen.

"Alicia!" She was suddenly brought back to reality as she heard someone shout out her name. She looked in front of her to see two people running towards her. The both of them were exactly the same age as her. One was a young girl with long, curly blonde hair with a pink bow on the back of her hair, and wore a Town Watch uniform that looked exactly like hers. The other was a young man, carrying a carbine similar to hers, and had his brown hair tucked under a tan bandanna wrapped around his head except for one long strand that dangled near his right eye. He was also a member of the town watch except his uniform was different. He was wearing civilian clothing along with a small shawl that was the same color as Alicia's uniform.

They stopped in front of her and began to breathe heavily as they tried to catch their breaths. "Noce, Susie what is it?" Alicia asked him, wondering what was so important.

Susie was the first to answer "German spies are here!" she shouted.

Alicia's eyes suddenly widened with surprise. _'What? German spies? Here? Now?'_ she thought. What are they doing here? Are they doing recon of the town? Whatever their reasons were, Alicia was sure that none of them were good.

"Their around by the bridge. There's two of them. They a couple of young men," informed Noce.

"Are you sure?" Alicia asked, hoping they had mistook what they saw.

"Positive. Jan and Miguro are over there keeping an eye on them. I don't think they know we've spotted the yet," Noce answered.

Alicia pondered what to do for a moment. If the spies got away, they could inform the main German force everything they could about Bruhl. The number of Town Watchmen there were, where the best places to enter the town were, anything. They had to stop them, before they had a chance to flee. Even if she had to do it alone.

"Susie, you and Noce take this and help the refugees. I'm going to check out these 'spies' for myself," said Alicia as she handed the basket of bread to them and darted away.

"Alicia, wait!" shouted Noce, but it was too late. She was already long gone.

* * *

_By the Stream_

Behind a few bushes, under the shade of the trees, sat two individuals staring intently at the two mysterious figures resting by the bank of the stream. They were young boys about fifteen, both armed, and wearing town watch uniforms. Their uniforms were similar to most of the watchmen. Civilian clothes with a blue shawl over them. They also wore two old French steel helmets that been painted blue and had the Town Watch emblem of Bruhl painted on it. They were Jan and Miguro, the two watchmen sent to keep an eye on their suspected spies. They had been watching them for the past 20 minutes now, wondering what they were up to.

"Where are the spies?" asked a voice behind them. The both of them jumped, startled that there was someone behind them. They looked to see that it was just Alicia.

"Oh, it's just you Alicia," said Jan, relieved to see a friendly face.

Alicia crept up alongside the two as Miguro pointed towards the pair. "They're over there. It's just the two of them at the moment. One of them has been writing something in his notebook," he explained.

"Notebook?" Alicia asked upon hearing the word.

"Yeah, he's been writing in that thing for a while now," he added.

Meanwhile, Jack and Welkin were still relaxing on the bank of the stream. While Welkin was still sketching, Jack was now sitting upright looking at a detailed map of Gallia. He was trying to put his head into the mind of a German commander. Trying to figure out where they would invade and how. It really wasn't that hard for him to figure out. You see Jack wasn't Gallian, he was an American, born and raised in New York city, America's crown jewel city. Before he came to Gallia, Jack served for two years in the United States Army. That experience taught him things like how to take into account the geography, the terrain, and strategic locations that would be vital.

"There's just something I don't understand here," he admitted out loud.

"Really? And what would that be?" asked Welkin, not taking his eyes away from his sketching.

"Why would the German's want to come through Bruhl? Aside from the fact that it's close to the border, this town doesn't really have much strategic value," described Jack.

Finally looking up, Welkin asked "Then how would you do it?"

"Could you hand me the pen please?" Jack asked politely. After Welkin handed him the pen, Jack began drawing a series of symbols, arrows, and other additional details to the map. "Okay, if I was the bastard in charge of this invasion, I'd start by separating my army into three groups. The first group would come through the North, through the fortress at Ghirlandaio, into the Naggiar Plains and to the industrial cities up there. The second group would come through the South, past the Ardennes Forest and start taking the southern villages. Finally, the third group would come through the center, taking the Barious Desert before heading on to Randgriz. What do you think of that?" he explained before handing Welkin back his pen.

"Wow, you really thought that through. Impressive," said, Welkin, amazed at what he just heard.

"Yeah well, I'm pretty sure you could think of something better," commented Jack. He was about to fold up the map and put it back in his jacket when suddenly behind them they heard the cocking of a gun.

"Freeze. Put your hands in the air, slowly," ordered a female voice.

The two of them temporarily froze in place, but they soon did as she ordered. They got up on their feet, hands in the air, and turned around to see who it was that had a gun on them. Turning around, they saw Alicia, Jan, and Miguro weapons drawn and pointed at them with serious looks on their faces. Welkin and Jack were completely confused as to what was happening. Had they done something wrong? What was going on?

"Hello there um...who are you?" asked Welkin quite bluntly.

"The one with the gun," stated Alicia.

"Well nice to meet you 'one with the gun'," said Jack jokingly, trying to ease the situation.

"Cute. We're from the Bruhl town watch. I'm Alicia. Alicia Melchiott. This is Jan and Miguro," Alicia said as she introduced them "What are you two doing here?"

"Well we were on our way to Bruhl when we decided to just stop here and rest for a little bit," explained Welkin.

"Then what are you doing with that notebook and the map your holding," she questioned.

"Well you see, I was sketching the fish into my notebook here and the map well...," explained Welkin trying to tell the truth without getting into more trouble.

"Show me them," she ordered, interrupting Welkin's sentence. He and Jack complied with her orders and handed over both Welkin's notebook and the map to her. She opened the notebook first and her face instantly turned from a stern one into one of confusion as she saw the sketch of a fish. "What kind of code is this?" she asked inquisitively.

"Code? It's a drawing of a fish. What do you think it is lady?" remarked Jack quite loudly.

"Shut up you!" exclaimed Miguro. As he said it he moved his gun closer to Jack's head. Seeing this, Jack backed up a bit as to avoid confrontation.

Alicia then turned her attention to the map which she had also taken from Jack. While she was busy studying it, Welkin whispered to Jack "What do you think's going on?" He had no idea what was going on. He had no clue why the two of them were being held at gunpoint or why they were searching through their belongings.

Jack however had it all figured out. Given the current climate with the imminent threat of war and the evacuation of Bruhl, they probably suspected that they were working for the enemy.

"I could be wrong but it's possible that they think we're German spies," he explained to Welkin whispering as well.

Apparently they didn't whisper low enough because Alicia immediately stopped looking at the map and sternly pointed a finger at them. "We don't think, we know!" accused Alicia.

"Look, you have this all wrong. This isn't what it looks like. We aren't German spies," said Welkin as he tried to prove their innocence.

"Then explain this," said Alicia showing the map in their faces. Welkin and Jack looked to each other, hoping one would have the answer. But neither of them had one. They could see all of Jack's alterations that he had made to it. From a stranger's perspective, it appeared like it was a map detailing Germania's invasion plan for Gallia. Jack began to regret what he did earlier because now he felt like he had just signed their prison sentence.

"Why do you have a map for an invasion? Answer me!" Alicia ordered, becoming increasingly annoyed by their lack of response.

Seeing how annoyed she was getting, Jack tried to calm her down through reason. "Look, there is a perfectly logical explanation for-" he started but was interrupted by Jan who pointed her rifle at him when she noticed something metallic hidden on the inside of his jacket.

"He has something in his jacket. On the left side," he informed to Alicia. Acknowledging this, she ordered Jack to spread out his arms. Once he did, she reached into his jacket and found two secret holsters sewn to his jacket carrying a pair of loaded Colt 1911 semi-automatic pistols with two additional magazines in additional pockets next to them on each side.

"Well, well, well. This just gets more and more interesting," Alicia commented with a slight grin on her face before relieving Jack of his weapons. "Now let's see what you have to say back at the town watch guardhouse during your interrogation. Bind their hands," she ordered as her compatriots obliged with her orders and tied both men's hands behind their backs. They nudged them with their rifles indicating them to move which they did so.

As they began to walk away, Jack looked to Welkin and asked "Not quite the welcoming party you expected huh?"

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	4. The First Shots

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

Welkin and Jack were being paraded forward, now accused of being spies for Germania. They were sandwiched between Alicia who was marching in front of them along with Jan and Miguro, who were behind holding them at gunpoint. Alicia had taken Jack's pistols and secured them inside two of the pouchs she had on her belt. Jack couldn't shake the feeling like the two kids behind them were just waiting for them to try and run away and shoot them. And it sure looked like it from the looks on their faces and how their trigger fingers were starting to twitch. Welkin on the other hand didn't seem to be bothered by this sudden development. Even though they just got arrested, his attitude didn't seem to change.

"What a shame, I didn't know sketching was prohibited," he joked to Jack.

"Hey that's my line. Write your own," replied Jack in the same tone.

Alicia was just becoming more irritated. They had been at this ever since they were caught. Was this standard procedure for spies when they were captured?

"Are all German soldiers as carefree as you two?" she asked.

"First of all, we aren't German soldiers. Secondly, he tends to be more carefree than I do," explained Jack, pointing to both him and Welkin.

Alicia just slapped the palm of her hand against her forehead in frustration. _'Can they really carry out a mission like this?'_ she asked herself. She though that German spies would be more terrifying, not willing to talk, that kind of thing. But these guys, who are they? Wait, who are they? She just remembered that she doesn't even know the guys names.

"Just who are you guys anyway? What are your names?" she asked them.

"You arrest us and now you want our names? You have a crazy mind lady," commented Jack.

"Just tell me your names," she said sternly.

"Fine. My name's Jack Lawrence. My companion, well, I thinks it's better if he told you himself," explained Jack.

Welkin took a deep breath before explaining "I'm Welkin. Welkin Gunther."

Upon hearing that, Alicia quickly stopped, turned around, and looked at Welkin with an angry look on her face. Everyone else just stopped in their tracks, completely unsure as to why she was so angry. They found out their answer when Alicia started to yell.

"Who was the one who thought up that name? You don't look like you know this so let me tell you this. You need certain qualities to call yourself a Gunther. The qualities of a hero. You aren't fit to call yourself a Gunther Mr. Spy! So cut it with the lying!" Alicia shouted as she pointed her carbine at Welkin in anger.

It didn't surprise Jack that Welkin's last name was that well known or famous inside of Gallia. The reason for that was because of his father: the late General Belgen Gunther. He was a General in the Gallian army during the Great War, a terrible conflict that took place between the nations of Europe from 1914-1918. When Germania invaded Gallia during the war, his leadership and tactics kept the country from being overrun and conquered therefore preserving its independence. In recognition of his deeds, he was given the title 'Hero of Gallia' and he became a household name throughout the country. He died in 1926 at the age of only 39 years. But even after his death, his name lived on through his children. Though now at this point it doesn't appear like Alicia believes that Welkin is his son. Jack wasn't going to just stand there though and let her insult his friend.

"He's not lying. That is his name," explained Jack trying to get her to put down her gun.

"Like hell it is," she snapped at Jack, "It's already too late to deny-" before she could finish her sentence, the air around them began to be filled by the sound of a blaring alarm. It was an alarm that they knew all too well. Alicia's eyes widened in shock as she looked behind her towards Bruhl. "That sound. It's the air raid siren!" she exclaimed.

Jan and Miguro looked at each other with the same look on their faces. Welkin just stood there and asked "What's going on? Why is the siren going off?"

"I think I just found out why," said Jack. Everyone turned towards him and saw him looking towards the sky with a look of horror and dread on his face. They slowly looked where he was staring and all of them gasped in utter amazement.

Up in the clear blue sky. They could see the black figures of hundreds of bombers, fighters, and more. They weren't flying high, but just high enough to make out their shapes. They flew in formation, which added to their terrifying appearance. And everywhere you looked, it seemed like they went on for as far as the eye can see. Suddenly they could see about a dozen small planes break off from the main group and headed towards Bruhl. They made a steep dive towards the town, making a horrible screeching noise as they flew down. It was so terrible that the group had to cover their ears to keep themselves from growing crazy. Then they could see, a dozen small objects leave the planes and continued downward as the planes began to pull back up. As the small objects hit the town, they could see a series of explosions, twelve to be exact, being set off. There was no doubt. Those objects were bombs.

From afar, they could see smoke coming from the town where the bombs detonated. Alicia stood there, hardly believing what she had just witnessed. Bruhl, her town, her home, was just attacked. Attacked by Nazi bombers. She could feel the anger and hatred that was beginning to well up inside of her. Her friends were still there, and now she didn't know if they were alive or dead. But if they were dead, she would avenge them by taking every damn Nazi she could with her to the grave.

Suddenly they could see the planes that had just attacked Bruhl level off and were now flying directly towards them. As they drew closer, Jack could make out what kind of planes they were. They were Ju87 Stukas, the Nazis standard Nazi dive-bombers. Their military green paint, gulled wings, and fixed landing gear made them easy to spot and identify. These planes were the symbol of Germanian air power. When you heard the siren of a Stuka as it was bearing down on you, you knew that your life was over.

The planes were only about a hundred feet above the ground and were preparing to return to the main force. And they would of if Alicia's temper didn't get the better of her. At the sight of them she took a few steps forward and started blasting away at the approaching Stukas with her carbine. "Go to hell you murderous bastards!" she shouted as she emptied her weapon on them. They couldn't tell if her shots managed to hit any of them, but even if they did they wouldn't have done much damage. The German planes paid no heed to her and simply flew over their heads as they went to join the rest of the formation. They didn't turn to attack them, most likely because the pilots felt that they weren't worth the waste of ammunition.

When it seemed like they were safely away from any reprisal Welkin asked "What just happened?

Jack muttered back to Welkin "Well, I think Byzantium's little war just started."

They immediately heard the sound of another gun cocking from behind them. The looked behind them to see a terrifyingly angry Alicia standing in front of them with her carbine mere inches away from them. Both men let out a gulp for fear of being shot on the spot. "For your sake, you spies had better hope that none of my friends are dead!" she said angrily.

She then looked to Jan and Miguro. "I'm going back first to see if anyone was hurt. Take them with you. Don't let them escape," she ordered.

"Just leave it to us," Jan said confidently. And with a quiet nod, she raced off back towards Bruhl.

When he was certain that Alicia was no longer within earshot, Jack commented to their guards "I suppose that like her you guys think that we're spies too."

"Be careful Miguro, these guys are trying to trick us into releasing them," warned Jan. Jack pretty much took that response as a 'yes'.

"That wasn't his intention. You boys look like your barely fifteen years old, and you've already joined the Town Watch?" asked Welkin.

Jan then angrily spoke "Yeah, so what? Gallians have military drills since elementary school. We can even drive tanks." Welkin already knew that information. Since Gallia was always surrounded by hostile powers, they had adopted a policy of universal conscription. This required schools to give military training each year in courses such as firearms training, military tactics, armored vehicle, and officer training. This meant in the event of a war or invasion, citizens were then drafted into the military to defend their country. Gallia's normally small peacetime army of only fifty thousand men and women could grow to over half a million strong in just a few weeks.

"But that things so worn out it can't move," Miguro commented as he nudged Jan with his arm.

"Its fine, we don't have to tell them the truth," mentioned Jan.

"But… but we only sat in the gunner's seat," Miguro corrected.

"It would be so uncool if they found out, now stop talking," said Jan, now trying to convince his friend to stop talking.

At this point Jack knew that these kids were just trying to make themselves tougher than they already seemed. Even though they had probably been inside the tank, they obviously didn't have any experience actually using it.

As the two of them were in the middle of their argument, Jack and Welkin heard someone call out "Welkin? Is that you Welkin?"

They looked to the direction of the call to see a woman waving to them from the passenger side of a truck. Welkin recognized her and shouted back "Martha!" He instinctively ran towards her with Jack only joining him shortly after he was certain that their two poor, bumbling excuses for guards were too busy arguing to notice them.

When they reached the truck, Jack could see who this woman was. She was a woman in her late thirties, had brown hair and simple clothes. He could also see that she was currently pregnant, and pretty far along on that matter. The man at the driver seat was of the same age which made Jack guess that it was her husband. The whole time, Jack was wondering why she had seemed so familiar. "It's good to see you, when we saw the bombs dropped I thought the worse," said Welkin with a sincere worry on his face.

Then suddenly, Jack remembered who she was. "You're Martha right? An old friend of Welkin's father right?" he asked hoping he was right.

She replied with a smile "That's right. I'm sorry but I don't seem to know your name."

Jack understood her. They had probably met only once for a short while. He thought it was natural that she could have forgotten him.

"This is my friend Jack Lawrence, the American exchange student I wrote about in my letters. He's here to help me get Isara out of here," explained Welkin.

"Oh that's right, I'm sorry I didn't recognize you. I'm glad to see you two are still alright. You'd better hurry back to the house Welkin. Isara said she won't leave the house until you come back home," she explained to him.

Welkin let out a light laugh before saying "That sounds like Isara all right. She was always stubborn."

"She just cares for her older brother very much," assured Martha. She then noticed that their hand were bound behind their backs. "Welkin, Jack, what's wrong with your hands?" she asked them.

The two of them instantly remembered that their hands were bound. The whole joyful reunion caused them to forget this fact. Now they had to figure out some way to tell Martha how both of them had just been arrested under the suspicion of espionage. Jack spoke first as they took a few steps back "Well...you see it's kind of a long story."

She now had a look of suspicion on her face as she asked them "Are you two up to no good?"

Before they could answer the question they heard the familiar voices of Jan and Miguro calling out towards them. They turned to realize that they were heading towards them. They must have had stopped arguing and realized that they had run off. To try and alleviate suspicion from themselves, they told Martha "We're fine. See you soon," and then bolted back to the two guards without saying another word.

* * *

Alicia darted through the streets of Bruhl, running like a maniac on a mission. She was heading toward the Town Watch guardhouse, the headquarters of the Town Watch which was located near the Northwestern edge of the town. As she ran through the city, she often came upon the impact points of where the bombs dropped and hit. Sometimes it would be deep craters made into the ground while other times it was half a house that had collapsed. Each time Alicia passed one she hoped she wouldn't see anyone she knew lying dead near the impact zones. As she exited town she could see the guardhouse within view. The guardhouse was an old farmhouse with a large shed next to it. It wasn't pretty, but it was useful enough to serve as the headquarters of the town watch. As she approached closer, she could see the familiar figures of her friends Noce and Susie just outside the front entrance. She was so relieved to see that they were okay she shouted towards them. They both saw her and ran to embrace her in a hug. Noce squeezed tighter with each passing moment while Susie was on the verge of tears.

Once they had all separated Noce said "Thank god you're okay. When we couldn't find you we thought one of the bombs got you."

"I thought the same thing when I saw the explosions. Is everyone okay?" she asked.

"Ms. Turner's flower shop took a direct hit as she was evacuating. She suffered some cuts and a concussion, but we managed to get her moving with the convoy," explained Susie.

Alicia let out a sigh of relief as she heard that. Before she could say anything else, Noce asked her "What about those spies from the bridge? What happened to them?" Alicia went about explaining what happened with them and the spies along with what they had found including the notebook, the map, and the guns.

Susie nearly fainted before she was caught by Noce. "Where are they now?" asked Noce as he helped her up. "Jan and Miguro are bringing them up now," she explained "Have you told Mr. Mekel about the spies?"

Mr. Mekel was the leader of Bruhl's town watch. Often hot-headed, he was sometimes hard to have a conversation with. He was a veteran of the Great War so he knew what the Reich was capable of. Which made him the only choice to help lead a defense against a German attack.

"We tried, he didn't believe us. He seems to think the Germans are going to try a more direct approach to Bruhl," explained Susie with a disappointed look on her face.

"We'll have to hope that our new friends will tell us something useful," added Noce.

As if on cue, from down the road they could hear incoming voices. "Will you stop poking me with that damn gun?! I can walk by myself you know!" one of the voices said. They all turned around to see Jan and Miguro marching behind Welkin and Jack with Jan constantly poking Jack in the back with the muzzle of his gun urging him to move. And with each time he poked him, Jack got more and more annoyed.

When they reached Alicia, Jack looked at her with a look of disbelief. "Oh great, you again," he said.

"So you're the spies then huh?" asked Noce.

"Not to point out the obvious but, who the hell are you?" asked Jack as he noticed the two people behind Alicia. Alicia pointed to the two of them and explained "This is Noce Wordsworth and Susie Evans. They're members of the town watch like me."

"Oh good! Someone in charge, finally! This lady here has violated all of my civil-" said Jack as he tried to get them released.

"We aren't letting a couple of German spies get away so don't even try that," warned Noce, interrupting Jacks rant.

Welkin let out a deep sigh as he entered the conversation. "How many times do we have to tell you people? We aren't German spies," he exclaimed.

"You can tell us that as many times as you want, it won't change your situation," explained Alicia. "Let's put them in the shed, we need them to tell us what they know," she ordered as Jan and Miguro carried them out.

They all marched towards the entrance towards the shed. Alicia and Noce opened the big sliding doors leading inside. The inside was dark, lit only by some windows high up. There were large wooden boxes along with two wooden chairs and some rope. Alicia, Noce, and Susie escorted Welkin and Jack inside while Jan and Miguro went inside the guardhouse. They then put two of the chairs back to back with Welkin sitting in one while Jack sat in the other one. Susie and Alicia took the large rope and tied it around them to make sure they wouldn't get away. When they were certain that they were well secured, they stepped aside. Noce and Susie both left the barn as to rejoin the meeting currently being held in the main building, leaving Alicia alone with Welkin and Jack.

"Well then where do we begin?" taunted Alicia as she circled the pair.

"So what's this? An interrogation? You going to be both the good cop and bad cop?" asked Jack inquisitively.

"I'm going to ask the questions. Starting with what was your mission here spies?" questioned Alicia.

"For the fifth time, we aren't German spies," yelled Jack growing quite tired of being called that. "I'm an American citizen. I'm here on peaceful terms. My passport's in my left jacket pocket, look there," he explained.

Alicia did as he said and found a small blue passport. She opened it up to see a picture of Jack and other information about him such as his date of birth, gender, and ethnicity. To most people, this seemed legit. But Alicia wasn't buying it.

"How do I know this isn't a forgery," she questioned him as she put it back in his pocket.

"There is just no pleasing you isn't there? You won't believe a single thing we tell you, will you?" he asked in response.

"Then explain the notebook, the guns, the map. All of it," she pointed out.

"We told you, I was sketching in the notebook, Jack had those guns for protection, and well… the map is kind of complicated. Look just answer me this one question: Is a battle going to take place in Bruhl?" asked Welkin.

Alicia's eyes widened with amazement. How did they know that? "Why are you asking me that? Tell me now," she demanded.

"The air raid siren blared which made you run back here. The town is being evacuated by the town watch. And the entire Town Watch is probably gathered around here. That can only mean something's going to happen," he explained.

"Not to mention the krauts just bombed the town along with god knows how many others in the region. And when these guys hit, the _Wehrmacht_ won't be far behind," added Jack.

"To you guys that's good news isn't it?" accused Alicia. She wouldn't be surprised that they would be grateful at being freed by their own side.

Welkin waited a few moments before finally asking her "Can you let us go?"

Alicia's jaw dropped as her eyes widened. Jack just lowered his head, not believing what his friend had just asked.

"There's someone waiting for us. We'll be back as soon as we can," he explained trying to get her to agree with him.

"You… you're kidding me. Who would honestly believe anything you two say," cried Alicia as she stormed out of the shed, shutting the doors behind her.

When she left Jack spoke to his friend in disbelief. "What the hell was that? Were you thinking that she was just going to let us go?" he asked.

"I don't know. I guess I was trying to be hopeful," he answered truthfully.

Jack just lowered his head again and shook it. "Honestly, sometimes I wonder how your mind works," he commented. "Regardless, we need to get out of here before she comes back," informed Welkin.

"Agreed, think you can wriggle your way out of your binds?" replied Jack.

"I think so," said Welkin. He then moved his hands and wrists as he struggled to get out of his restraints. And after a few minutes, he finally managed to break loose. He then took the rope off of them and cut Jack loose as well. They went to the door and tried to open it, but to no avail.

"Damn, she must have locked it. We'll have to find another way out," said Jack.

They went about searching the room looking for an exit until Welkin eyed one of the windows up high. "If we stack up some of these crates, we might be able to reach that," he informed Jack pointing up to the window.

Jack saw where he was going with this and nodded in reply. "All right then, let's get to work," he said.

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	5. Shootout at the Gunther Home

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

The meeting inside the guardhouse was slowly coming to an end. Mr. Mekel along with several other members of the Town Watch were gathered around a table which had a large map of Gallia draped over it. Alicia, Susie, and Noce were leaning against one of the walls waiting for the meeting to end.

"All right, here's what we'll do. Groups 1 and 2 will finish evacuating the remaining townspeople while the rest of us start setting up defenses around the town. We don't know exactly when the German Army will arrive, but because of the Stuka bombing we know that it won't be long. Right now with our small numbers, we can only hope that they'll take their time in order to get here. This meeting is adjourned," said Mekel explaining their situation.

The Town Watch began to exit the room while Alicia, Noce, and Susie stayed in the room. Feeling worried about the coming battle, Susie asked "Hey guys. We won't get shot will we?"

Noce gave her a small pat on the back before answering "We just need to shoot the Nazis before they shoot us. It'll be alright."

It did little to calm her down. Now beginning to panic she questioned "I can't do a thing like that. Aren't you afraid?"

To say they weren't afraid would be a complete lie. They were all scared about being in battle. Other than the military training they had at school, they had no real combat experience. They had wanted to live their lives in peace and now they were being thrown into a war that nobody wanted. But in order to protect their town, they would be willing to do anything.

"It's all for the sake of protecting Bruhl, Susie. Everything will be alright. We'll survive this. I promise," assured Alicia. As she was beginning to leave the room, she spotted something happening outside through the window. Acting on instinct, she walked over to the window to see what was going on. What she saw, brought worry to her eyes.

The two men they had just arrested were exiting from the window high up in the shed. The one with the darker hair jumped towards the ground and landed safely. He looked around as if to see that the coast was clear. He then signaled for his friend to follow which they did. Once they were both together on the ground they made a break for it. They were trying to escape.

"They-they're running away!" she shrieked as she ran out of the room leaving both Susie and Noce confused and in shock.

* * *

"I can't believe that plan actually worked," commented Jack as he and Welkin were running towards his house. They were trying to put as much distance as possible from the town watch guardhouse before they realized that they had escaped. Jack hoped that it would be a long time before anyone was aware. Welkin just hoped that they would just be able to get to his home.

All of their hopes were soon dashed however when behind them they heard a voice say "Hold it right there!"

They turned around to see Alicia hot on their heels, carbine rifle in hand, and an angry look on her face. "Crazy girl six o' clock!" announced Jack as he began to run faster, eventually surpassing Welkin. Welkin increased his pace as well in order to keep up with him.

The chase went on into a small forest that was just east of Bruhl. Welkin and Jack continued to run until Jack saw something that brought him to a sudden halt. Knowing what it was, he ducked behind some bushes. Welkin stopped as well as to make sure he didn't crash into him. As soon as he stopped, he saw the exact same thing that Jack was seeing and hid as well.

Alicia at this point had now managed to catch up with them. "It's pointless for you two to try and run," she said pointing out their situation. Jack turned his head towards her and spoke in a quiet whisper "Quiet. Keep your voice down."

Confused as to why he was telling them that, she got down to their height and crawled over next to Welkin. He pointed in the direction towards the edge of the forest, which wasn't that far away. Squinting her eyes to get a better look, she now saw what the two of them were worried about.

Traveling on a dirt road right outside the forest, was a long column of trucks, armored cars, half-tracks, Panzers, and infantry advancing alongside them. On the side of one of the tank she could see the German Iron Cross emblazoned upon it. There was no mistaking who these people were. "The German Army!" said Alicia.

The sound of bushes moving in front of them caused the three of them to remain hidden. Peaking their heads up slightly so they could see but give away their position. Up ahead, traveling in front of them parallel to the convoy was a small squad of five German soldiers. They all wore their standard uniform: field gray tunic and pants, brown leather boots, and wearing the _Stahlhelm_ steel helmet. They wore a leather belt around their waist fitted with ammo pouches, a canteen, a bayonet tucked into a sheath, along with a cylinder shaped container placed horizontally on the back. They also carried with them a type of grenade called a stick grenade. It had a long wooden handle with a metal cylinder on top where the charge was. The one in the front was armed with an MP-40 sub-machine gun with the remaining four carrying Kar98k bolt-action rifles. They were patrolling alongside the edge of the forest where the convoy was in order to make sure there were no ambushes awaiting them. As such they were looking left and right, trying to see if they would spot any enemy soldiers.

"We need to keep moving. Follow me," whispered Welkin. He began to move ahead of the group down the path, continuing to crawl as to not attract the Nazis attention. Jack continued behind him with Alicia taking up the rear. When they were sure that they were out of sight, they got back up and went back to walking.

"Alright, who's waiting for you?" asked Alicia. She figured that they were going to meet the person they had told her about earlier back in the shed. If she was going to continue to follow them, she wanted to know who it was they were meeting.

"My little sister," answered Welkin.

"Your little sister? That's impossible. You were just sketching leisurely by the stream not long ago. If your sister's waiting for you then you should be hurrying back instead," pointed out Alicia.

"I'm often told that my priorities are strange," replied Welkin.

"Honestly, I'm getting turned around just by talking to you," she muttered disbelievingly.

"I've been saying that ever since I've met him. Trust me, you get used to it," noted Jack.

Letting out a sigh, Alicia informed them "Alright. But I'm going with you two. That's the condition. If any of you try anything funny-".

"Yeah, yeah, we know you'll shoot us," interrupted Jack, stopping briefly to give the message to her.

"Where is your house?" she asked wanting to get this over with.

Welkin pointed further down the trail. "It's this way, if we continue down this path we'll reach it in a few minutes," he explained.

As he continued to move down the path with Jack right behind him, Alicia noticed something. She remembered hearing something about this area. "Wait a second. This is where General Gunther's mansion-" she said before stopping upon hearing the sound of a gun cocking. Alicia looked to her right to see a German soldier peeking out from behind a tree with a Kar98k rifle pointed at Welkin and Jack. "Look out!" she warned them.

But it was too late. The German fired his rifle at the duo, with the bullet luckily missing them and striking one of the trees. Jack and Welkin noticed the gunshot and immediately ducked down.

_"__Feindliche Soldaten__! __Hier drüben!__"_ the soldier shouted in German.

Alicia aimed her carbine at the German and fired two shots in his direction. He noticed her and ducked behind the tree, narrowly avoiding her bullets. Before Alicia could fire again, she spotted a small squad of Nazis coming up from behind him. It looked like some heard the shooting and came to investigate. They quickly spotted them and began to opened fire on them.

"Run! Come on," shouted Jack as he signaled for Alicia to follow them. The three of them then made a mad dash towards the end of the path, dodging bullets from the German's guns. They exited the clearing and charged down a steep hill towards another dirt road. From up that high they could see what looked like a mansion. It was larger that any of the other houses in Bruhl and it certainly looked nicer. It was over three stories high, had a nice stone pathway that lead towards the front door, and there was also a large barn located right next to the house.

The group reached the dirt road and sprinted towards the house. The Germans had reached the edge of the forest as well and were now firing on them from the top of the hill. Bullets whizzed by their heads, missing them by inches and striking the ground all around them. The managed to reach the barn, entering through a side door. Welkin locked the door as soon as they were all safe inside.

The barn was just like the shed by the town watch guardhouse. It was dark inside, only lit by the light coming through the windows. There was something large hidden underneath a giant cloth in the middle of the room. And alongside the walls surrounding it were racks filled with boxes containing items such as tools, spare parts, and many other things.

"I think we lost them," said Jack looking out the window and not spotting any German soldiers.

"We can enter the mansion through the inner door on the other side of the barn," explained Welkin.

"How do you know so much about this place? This is the home of General Belgen Gunther. He's the hero who saved Gallia from Germania during the Great War," questioned Alicia wondering how he could know all this.

"So it seems," said Welkin plainly.

Then suddenly everything began to click. How else could Welkin know so much about this place? This must be his home. And that means… that they were telling the truth the entire time. They weren't spies at all.

"Wait a minute. What you said was actually true?" asked Alicia.

"Oh, now you believe us. Well yes it's all true. I'm an American and my friend here is the General's son," explained Jack sarcastically.

Just as he finished, a bullet crashed through the window, missing them entirely. Then ducked down in case there was any more coming their way. From outside they could hear one of the German soldiers order _"Umgeben das haus!"_

"What did he say?" asked Alicia.

"He said 'surround the house' pretty much," answered Jack.

Alicia looked at him with a look of surprise before asking "You speak German?"

"Among other languages. Come on, we need to move," said Welkin as he directed them towards the door that led inside the mansion. Once inside they traveled down a hallway that ended with a closed door. Alicia walked up to the door but stopped when she heard something on the other side. It sounded like a couple of voices.

"Listen, I think that there's someone in there," she warned them. The three of them then huddled next to the door to hear what was going on in there. There was a total of three people in the room from what they could hear. Two men and a girl.

"Drop the gun girl. I won't say it again," one of the men ordered in English. From his accent they could tell that he was a German soldier. They must have gotten inside the house.

"You people don't belong here. I suggest you leave now," said the woman. Welkin recognized the voice of the girl. "That's Isara," he said.

"What was that? I heard something," said the other soldier. Welkin wasn't exactly quiet when he said Isara's name. Now the Germans knew that they were in the house.

"It must have come from that door over there. Go check it out, I'll keep an eye on our friend here," the first one ordered.

The trio immediately took a few steps back upon hearing that. Alicia aimed her rifle at the door. Now she would be ready when the Nazi opened the door. Jack nudged her in the arm, getting her attention. "My guns. Give me my guns," he said.

Alicia looked at him for a moment, wondering why he was asking her now for his weapons. Knowing however that arguing was pointless, she took out both of the Colt pistols and handed them over to him.

With a Colt in each hand, Jack took Alicia's place as the one ahead of the group. He held the pistols pointing downward. He stared intently at the door, waiting for the German to come through. Suddenly, the door opened to reveal a German soldier equipped with an MP-40. When he saw the group he began to aim at them with his weapon. But he was too late. With lightning speed Jack raised his guns at the soldier and fired four quick shots into his chest. The soldiers fell backwards, with four holes in his chest. He was dead before he even hit the floor.

"What the hell," they heard the remaining soldier say in the other room. Suddenly another single gunshot came from the room.

"Isara!" yelled Welkin as he ran into the room hoping that his little sister hadn't just been killed. Alicia and Jack ran after him, being careful to avoid the dead German that Jack had just shot. When they all entered the other room, they saw the second German lying dead, having been shot in the head. He was dressed as an officer with him wearing a nicer uniform which included epaulettes, a medal or two, and only armed with a Luger P08 pistol which he held in his hand.

His would be victim stood not five feet away, with a carbine rifle in her hands. She was about sixteen years old, wearing a light green dress. From her shoulder length dark blue hair and eyes, along with the pattern on her shawl, anyone could distinguished her as a Darcsen.

She eyed the group that had entered the room. Upon seeing Welkin, her face lit up. She dropped the gun, and ran towards Welkin, embracing him with a tight hug. "Thank god you're okay," said Welkin in relief.

"Alicia Melchiott, may I introduce you to Isara Gunther. Welkin's little sister," announced Jack.

Alicia looked back and forth at Welkin and Isara, trying to figure out how they were related. Jack wasn't surprised by her reaction. Anybody would by this.

"How are you two related?" she asked Welkin.

Welkin, now having let go of Isara, looked at her and responded "Isara's father was Theimer, an engineer who fought alongside my father during the war. Her parents died when she was a baby, so my father took her in and raised her as his daughter. We may not be related by blood, but she's definitely my little sister."

Theimer was just as famous as Belgen Gunther. He was a Darcsen engineer who served under the General. A mechanical prodigy, he invented things that helped both modern day life along with weapons in the military. His death was a big blow to Gallia, and many mourned him despite the fact that he was a Darcsen.

"I'm sorry, was that question too personal," she asked, now feeling a little sorry for bringing it up. Alicia didn't know that Theimer even had a daughter.

"No it's okay. But really, we should talk more when we deal with these soldiers," stated Isara.

"Agreed. But we're going to need guns, and lots of them," noted Jack.

"We have weapons in the barn. Follow me," stated Isara.

They began to make their way back to the shed. But before that Jack took the MP-40 from and it's ammo from one of the dead soldiers and doing the same with the officer.

* * *

Outside the house, the Germans had now completely surrounded the house. Hiding behind the trees, rocks, or fences, they kept their weapons aimed at the house in case they saw any movement.

A German staff car had also arrived along with a Panzer IV tank, the mainstay of the Germanian tank divisions. They were parked about a hundred feet away from the mansion. They had arrived after responding to a call about shots being fired at this location. In the staff car sat two individuals, a German officer, possibly a Captain, along with his driver. The Captain surveyed the situation and spoke into the radio that was attached to his car to give orders to the troops. _"__Feuer auf mein Kommando!__"_ he yelled into the radio.

* * *

Back inside the barn, Isara grabbed one of the boxes off of the shelves and placed it upon a wooden table. She opened the box to reveal it was filled with grenades, a model that was similar to the one that the Germans use.

"You have a box of grenades in your barn?" asked Jack inquisitively. He had holstered his pistols inside of his jacket and was now wielding the MP-40 he took. In addition, the belt that held the ammo for the gun and was now wearing it. Isara was now carrying the Luger pistol that they took inside holster she found in the barn and attached it to her belt. Welkin had grabbed the carbine rifle that Isara had used to kill the Nazi officer. Now everyone in their group had a weapon. That raised their chances of survival from nil to slim.

Welkin grabbed one of the grenades and explained "Their relics from the Great War."

"It's an old model, but they should still work," added Isara.

Alicia looked at Welkin and Isara and summarized "A carefree older brother and a reliable younger sister huh? I guess there's a first for everything."

She then reached into her pocket and pulled out Welkin's notebook. As she handed it to him she stated "I'm sorry for accusing you of being spies."

"It's alright. I can see how Jack and I could have seemed a little suspicious," explained Welkin as he put away his notebook.

"Welkin and I go to the university at Randgriz. He studies about nature while I'm into history. He tends to get so into it sometimes that he forgets where he is or that someone might be watching him," informed Jack.

"If we survive this, we'll explain more," said Welkin.

Suddenly, the windows around them began to shatter and the air became filled with the sound of gunshots. The group took cover and stayed away from the windows. The Germans were firing into the house in the hopes of flushing out the group from the house. The bullet weren't piercing the walls but they were coming in through the windows. Alicia grabbed the grenade from Welkin and made her way to the nearest window, making sure that she wasn't in the line of fire. Pulling out the firing pin from the bottom of the handle, she hurled the grenade out the window while shouting "I'll show you what happens when you belittle the town watch Nazi scum."

The grenade landed directly behind a group of three German soldiers. It exploded after a few seconds, killing them instantly.

"Take that!" she yelled after seeing the success of her actions. She then noticed the Panzer IV that was parked near the house.

"They got a tank!" she warned.

"We're going to need more than a few grenades to get past that," explained Jack.

"There is something we could use," informed Isara. She then made her way to the large object covered with a cloth covering. Grabbing it, she yanked it towards her revealing what was underneath it. Jack and Alicia saw what it was, and it caused their jaws to drop to the floor in surprise.

A massive tank, bigger than any tank in the Gallian army. And one that neither of them had ever seen before. It was painted in light blue and white, Gallia's colors. Its main gun was a long barrel 88 millimeter cannon. On one side of the turret was a small white flower painted onto it. Alongside the painting sat the word _Edelweiss _which meant 'noble white' in German. It also had two .50 caliber machine guns. One sat beside the main gun in a coaxial position while the other was placed on a fixed yet traversable position in the hull at the front of the tank. On the back of the tank there was a radiator for an engine that seemed more powerful than others were. There was also a radio antenna extending from the back of the turret that had Gallia's flag attached to it. Its armor was also sloped at the front which gave it extra protection. One look at the thing and one would mistake it for a German tank.

"What the hell is this? I've never seen anything like it," asked Jack in utter amazement.

"It's the _Edelweiss_, my father had it built for the General Gunther during the Great War," explained Isara.

"And it's been sitting here for the past twenty years? Does it even still work?" questioned Alicia.

"I've been keeping it in working order, just in case the situation requires it. Its armor, speed, and firepower are more than a match for German models," explained Isara.

"Wait, you've kept this thing working? How?" asked Jack, noting that it was Isara that said she was the one maintaining it.

"I enrolled in a maintenance class given by the military. I want to be able to do what my father could do. The _Edelweiss_ is fully armed, fueled, and ready to go," she replied.

"A mansion, grenades in a box, and a tank in your barn. Welkin you are quickly moving up my list of 'he who has the most interesting toys'," remarked Jack towards Welkin.

"But, does anyone else here know how to work this thing?" asked Alicia inquisitively.

"Welkin took an Armored Vehicle course for the military," explained Isara.

"Yeah, in high school... once," clarified Welkin.

"Terrific. Well at least you have some clue. Maybe we should get going," muttered Jack.

"Al right then. Isara can dive. Alicia, man the machine gun. Jack, you can fire the main gun while I'll issue the commands. Now let's go," ordered Welkin.

* * *

_"__Öffnen sie die türen__. __Schnell__!__"_ ordered the German officer. A group of German soldiers began to approach the barn door, weapons drawn, ready to take out the enemy group hiding inside. Just before they could touch it, the _Edelweiss_ busted through, sending chunks of the wooden door flying through the air along with some of the Nazis. The remaining soldiers ran for cover and tried to fire back, but their bullets simply pinged off the hull.

The _Edelweiss_ made a sharp turn and drove towards the tank and the staff car at full speed. The officer began to panic. He hadn't expected there to be a tank in that barn. But that didn't matter to him, he had a tank of his own. And he knew that most Gallian tanks would be destroyed in one shot from their superior tanks. He picked back up his radio and shouted in it _"__Zerstöre das panzer!__"_

The turret on the Panzer IV rotated to get a bead on the Gallian tank. Once his sights were trained on it, he fired the main gun. The officer in the scout car waited for the inevitable explosion but to his surprise, the shell simply bounced off the tanks frontal armor. He was now visibly surprised, German soldiers prided themselves on their tanks. They were heavily armored, had a long reaching cannon, and was nearly indestructible from long range. Anything that defied that was a big blow to Germanian pride.

Now it was the _Edelweiss's_ turn. Alicia took command of the hull mounted machine gun and peppered the scout car with bullets. The resulting fire killed both the driver and the German Captain. Jack traversed the turret to line up a shot with the Panzer. The Edelweiss featured an automatic loading system for its main cannon. This removed the need for a man to load the cannon while another fired it. All Jack had to do was aim the gun and launch the shell. The main gun soon fired at the Panzer IV once the crosshairs lined up on its chassis. And unlike the shot that the Panzer fired, where the shell simply bounced off the hull of the _Edelweiss_, this shot went straight through its thick frontal armor, causing the tank to explode in a ball of fire. The _Edelweiss_ simple drove right past the burning tank and bullet riddled staff car and onward to Bruhl.

* * *

German to English translations

1\. _Feindliche Soldaten__! __Hier drüben!_ \- Enemy Soldiers! Over Here!

2\. _Umgeben das haus!_ \- Surround the house.

3\. _Feuer auf mein Kommando!_ \- Fire on my command!

4\. _Öffnen sie die türen__. __Schnell__!_ \- Open the doors. Quickly!

5\. _Zerstöre das panzer!_ \- Destroy that tank!

**As usual, if you have a comment about this chapter or the story in general, send me a PM and I'll answer it as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review as well as a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as add to the polls I have set up there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	6. The Battle for Bruhl

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is for entertainment purposes only.)_

The town of Bruhl was now deathly quiet. The only people that now remained where the members of the Town Watch. They had just finished setting up defenses within the city. They had placed walls of sandbags in the streets to help the Watchmen take on the German infantry along with makeshift barricades made of wood, stone, and glass that would try and block approaching tanks. It would be enough to delay the Germans but not enough to drive them back.

On one of the watch towers, two members of the Town Watch saw a cloud of dust in the distance. Curious, one of them pulled out a pair of binoculars for a closer look. Coming down one of the main roads, was a massive blue and white tank. "What the? A tank! I see a tank!" he shouted.

The second Town Watch member saw what his friend saw and grabbed his weapon. It was an anti-tank rifle. A large caliber, single shot rifle designed during the Great War as an early method for taking out tanks. It worked well at first as the tanks of that period had very thin armored plating. As tank armor got thicker however, these were replaced with more modern weaponry such as rocket launchers and anti-tank mines. The Town Watch member took aim with the rifle at the incoming tank. There was little chance he could do anything to stop it, but he was going to try nonetheless.

Jan and Miguro, who were sitting on the roof of a house right next to the watchtower, saw someone sitting on the tank. They squinted their eyes to get a better look. Once the tank was close enough, they got a clear look as to who it was. They recognized that person, and fearing for their safety, looked to the watchtower and yelled "Wait! Don't shoot! Alicia's riding on that tank!"

This caused the Watchmen to pause. They took a good look at the tank and true to their warning, they saw Alicia. Sitting on the _Edelweiss's_ turret, was Alicia.

* * *

They regrouped back at the Town Watch guardhouse. About half a dozen other Watchmen along with Susie, Noce, Jan, and Miguro had gathered around the tank. As the tank pulled to a stop in front of them, Alicia jumped off the_ Edelweiss_ and gave her friends a hug.

"It's good to see you alive," said Noce.

"We heard gunfire coming from the east, how did you survive that? And where did you find a tank?" asked Jan.

"It's a long story kid," said a voice coming from the tank. While everyone was so focused on Alicia, they failed to notice Welkin and Jack coming out of the tank hatch. When everyone looked up to see them, a look of surprise crossed their faces. Alarmed to see them, Noce raised his rifle as if to shoot them both. But before he could get it truly pointed at them, Alicia grabbed the rifle and diverted it away from them. "Wait, don't shoot them," she yelled.

Jan and Miguro looked at her with surprise. "Wait a minute, you're defending these spies now?" Miguro asked her.

"They aren't spies. In fact I found out that they're nothing close to being spies," defended Alicia.

"I believe a proper introduction is in order. But first," announced Jack before reaching inside the tank with Welkin to pull up Isara "Here we go little lady." After they had pulled Isara out the three of them jumped off and turned with Alicia towards the Town Watchmen.

Just as they had gotten off, Mr. Mekel had arrived with several more Watchmen. "Alicia. Just who are these three?" he asked her.

Alicia started off the introductions "This is Welkin Gunther. He's the son of General Belgen Gunther. And this is Isara Gunther. She's the Generals adopted daughter." Everyone was surprised to hear that they were standing right in front of the son of General Gunther. They were even more surprised that the General had adopted a Darcsen as a daughter.

"And the last one over here is Jack Lawrence. He's from America. He and Welkin go to school together," she finished.

This only added to the discussions among the Watchmen. They hadn't expected there to be an American in Gallia at this time, with the war now looming. "Alicia, what's going on? Give me a proper explanation," demanded Mr. Mekel, trying to get the conversation moving to something more important.

Alicia turned towards Mekel and explained "Yes sir. The German Army attacked us at the Gunther home. We managed to kill a few of them, but that's not enough. I believe that they're advancing the bulk of their force towards Bruhl."

"And from what we saw, it's about the size of a small army. And they have tanks with them," added Welkin.

"T-tanks?" muttered Susie as she suffered another faint spell before being caught by Noce.

"Wait a minute Alicia, don't tell me you all ran away from there?" asked Mekel now very worried.

"Um, we kind of did," answered Alicia sheepishly.

"You mean to tell me that you led the Nazi army here? Some Town Watch member you are!" scolded Mekel, now furious at this new information.

Normally a person would feel bad after being called that. But Alicia thought of something that would turn this whole situation around. "But we can buy some time if we lure them into the city right?" she asked.

The Town Watch members suddenly stood silent as she continued to make her point. "The German Army is in a state of disorder right now. They've lost one of their officers, a Panzer, and have just been attacked by a tank they've never expected to see. And on top of all of that, they've let us manage to escape. They'll definitely come after us in order to uphold their Reich's. The Town Watch will only have to hold out until the townspeople have gotten as far away as they can from Bruhl. I think that this is the only solution. What do you think?" explained Alicia.

Mekel paused for a moment to think that all through. It was true that the Germans would now be coming after them. And that meant that they would have to come through Bruhl itself. And since the Town Watch had already set up defenses, they would only have to hold out for a certain amount of time. Now his mind was made up, they would try to defend Bruhl with everything they had.

"Alright then, let's get to work. We'll need everything we have. And I know just what to use," announced Mekel.

Mekel signaled to everyone to follow him. They went back into the shed and opened two large sliding doors that led to a large back room. Inside were two Gallian light tanks. These tanks were the mainstay of the Gallian armored divisions. As such these tanks were mass produced. They are designed to have a crew of five: a commander, a driver, a loader, a gunner, and someone to operate the machine gun. They were considerably smaller than their German counterparts and their armor isn't that very thick either, only about an inch and a half at best. One hit from a German tank would result in a catastrophic explosion. They tried to make up for this by adding armored plating alongside their sides covering the suspension and around the sides of the turret. These plates of armor were called 'skirts'. The idea was that when the tank shell or rocket would hit it, it would absorb the shot and lessen the damage to the main tank body. Other armies caught on and did the same thing, though they were more successful than the Gallians. This idea proved to be ineffective as the shells would simply go through them and still destroy the Gallian tanks. Despite this news, the Gallians still added these plates of armor to their tanks. Its weapons included two .30 caliber Gallian Maxim machine guns, one in the turret and one in a coaxial position, along with a short barreled 75 millimeter cannon. The cannon however, didn't have the long range and stopping power that the German tanks had. They would only be able to pierce German armor when they were in close range combat. But they have one advantage they can use against the Panzers: speed. The Germans put emphasis on protection and firepower, but at the cost of speed and mobility. These tanks would simply have to outrun their guns until they could score a decisive hit.

But these two tanks seemed a different story. Their blue and white paint was beginning to chip off in some places. They had rust all over it which likely weakened the armor and other mechanics, and neither of them seem like they had moved in years. These tanks wouldn't last long against the enemy Panzers, anyone could see that. But it seemed like Mr. Mekel didn't.

"We have these when the situation calls for it. With a little maintenance, we should be able to use these and repel the Nazi tanks," said Mekel with a slight smile on his face.

"Yeah. Or it'll make the Germans laugh themselves to death. That could happen too," said Jack sarcastically.

Mr. Mekel's smile disappeared at the sound of that comment. He turned his head to Jack, who was standing behind him, and asked "Do you have something you wish to add Lawrence?"

Jack stood up straight and said plainly "Yeah, I do. This plan of yours, I don't think that this is a good idea. I say we should just get the hell out of here while we still have the chance."

Almost everyone let out a gasp of surprise at the fact that he would say that. "So what? You're telling us to just run away like cowards?" said Noce, visibly angry at Jacks words.

"You guys are up against the German Army here. You have what? Fifty guys armed with some rifles and a couple of rundown tanks? The Nazis are going to attack with tanks, artillery, and hundreds of soldiers all armed to the teeth. Do you honestly think that you'll be able to last even five minutes against these guys?" he said explaining the situation.

"But this is our home. We deserve at least a chance to try and defend it," exclaimed Alicia.

"Alicia, calm down. I actually agree with Jack about this," said Welkin.

Surprised, Alicia looked at him and asked "Wait, you agree with this?"

"We're outnumbered and outgunned. I don't think that there's much hope for this plan to succeed if we stay here," explained Welkin.

"Tell me. Do either of you boys have any combat experience whatsoever?" asked Mekel, now beginning to judge their usefulness.

"I don't. But Jack here does," said Welkin.

"He does?" questioned Mekel, shocked by that response. Alicia and most of the others were also surprised. Jack was only 18 years old, how could he have been in a warzone at his age.

"I served in the U.S. Army from 32' to 34'. Fought during the Soviet-American War," Jack claimed.

"You must have been what, 15 years old? I didn't think the U.S Army let kids in that young," said Mekel.

"I kind of lied about my age. That and having a couple of forged papers helped too," he explained.

Mekel let out a small grunt before saying "Either way. You lot had better stay here."

"But they can help us," said Alicia, speaking in their defense.

"At best they'll just shoot us in the back. I'm going to go feed the German Army some bullets. In the meantime help ready these tanks for combat," ordered Mekel. Then he and other members of the Town Watch left the shed to help finish the defenses at Bruhl. When they left only Jack, Welkin, Isara, Alicia, Noce, Susie, Jan, Miguro, and some mechanics who were working on one of the tanks were remaining.

Alicia suddenly turned to Jack and snapped "Seriously, I can't believe that you would say something so pathetic at a time like this."

"What's so pathetic? Jack was just expressing his opinion," stated Welkin.

"He's thinking about saving his own skin. And you actually agree with him. And you still call yourself the General's son?" she yelled.

"Well, genetically speaking-" started Welkin but before he could finish they could hear shouting from outside.

"They're here! They're here!" said the voice.

Everyone ran out in a panic to see a Town Watch member looking over the ridge with a pair of binoculars. From up at the guardhouse, they could see many of the approaches into Bruhl. And from where they were standing, they could see small glimpses of movement coming from the east.

The town watchman put down his binoculars and turned towards the group. "The German Army, they're approaching the town from the east," he reported.

Jack grabbed his binoculars and took a deep look at the Eastern edge of Bruhl. The watchmen wasn't kidding. Jack could see several Panzer IV's along with several hordes of infantry supporting them. It looks like the war was finally about to begin.

"I can see them. It looks like they have about six tanks, and about three hundred soldiers. Maybe more," explained Jack as he gave the binoculars back to the watchman.

"We have to go and help them. They'll need anyone who can hold a rifle," said Noce.

"I'm with you there," added Welkin. Alicia looked at him, simply puzzled by what he had just said.

"Wait. Didn't you and Jack just say that we should run?" she reminded him.

"We meant that because the German Army was a couple of miles away, not right next to us. The only way out now is to fight past these guys. Any of you coming with me?" corrected Welkin.

"I'm in," responded Jack.

"So am I," said Alicia.

"Me as well. I've been waiting a chance for this," added Noce.

"I'll stay here and help with the maintenance on the tanks," suggested Isara.

"Jan, Miguro, and I'll help out with treating the injured," stated Susie.

"Alright. Let's move out," ordered Welkin.

* * *

In Bruhl the battle had already begun. The German infantry flooded into Bruhl, taking over half the town in a few minutes. The Town Watch established a scattered defense as small pockets were concentrated on certain points in the city. But they were doing very little as the Germans took every position, one by one. With their tanks supporting them, the Germans made quick work of the defenses. That and the use of several artillery pieces that were currently shelling the town. The shells were mostly hitting the buildings, causing massive damage to them and sending debris all over the place. Several shots from the artillery had already hit the Sister Mills inside of the town center, the most iconic landmark in Bruhl, reducing it to a large ruin.

The Germans were now engaging the bulk of the Town Watch near the city center and unlike the other pockets, they were actually putting up a small resistance. Mr. Mekel, along with about a dozen others, were using several lines of sandbags and building corners for cover as they fired on about forty German soldiers that were advancing upon them.

"Keep shooting! Drive them back!" shouted Mekel, trying to encourage his men.

He then popped out of cover and fired several shots at a Nazi soldier hiding behind a wrecked car. All of his shots either flew overhead or struck the car. Then the German soldier popped up and fired on him with his Gewehr 43.

Mekel immediately ducked back into cover to avoid the incoming shots. He then took a good look around to view his situation. At least four members of the Town Watch in this area had already been killed. And they hadn't even managed to inflict a single casualty on the enemy forces. Suddenly, he heard a strange sound. It sounded like a machine gun, except you couldn't hear the individual bullets being fired. All you heard was a loud buzzing sound. And just now, two more men who were fighting at the same wall of sandbags he was at were just shot and killed in a hail of bullets.

Mekel took a peak out of cover to see what was happening. From what he could see, the Nazis were now bringing in bigger guns. Behind the wrecked car that he had previously fired at, the Germans had set up an MG42 machine gun position there, and were using it to suppress the Town Watchmen.

The MG42 was a new addition to the German arsenal. It was designed to replace the older MG34 machine gun. It was lighter, more durable, and had a much faster rate of fire at over 1,500 rounds per minute. The buzzing sound it made earned it the nickname by its soldiers 'Byzantium's buzz saw'.

Now that same machine gun was being used to attack the town watch members fighting in the city center. The furious rate of fire caused the Watchmen to stay in cover and to not risk their lives by firing back at it. If they were going to fire back, then they would have to fire at least one shot and quickly duck back. The Germans were now taking advantage of the situation and began to slowly advance towards their position.

Mekel noticed that and muttered under his breath "Damn. If we were as well equipped as the military than this wouldn't be happening." Mekel knew that he had to think of a plan, and fast. If they didn't take out that machine gun, then their position would be overrun within in a few minutes.

"The west gate! Head for the west gate! Hit them from the flank!" he ordered to one of the Watchmen who was hiding behind one of the buildings.

The watchman simply shouted back "I can't. The Germans have already overrun that area."

"What?" said Mekel, surprised that the enemy was already advancing that quickly.

Then, the Watchman who was crouched right next to him seemed to lose his temper and exclaimed "To hell with this! I'll show these bastards some Gallian spirit!"

He popped out of cover and started to fire wildly at the advancing soldiers. He didn't manage to get off three shots before he was struck with bullets. He fell backwards, hitting the ground with a mighty thud. His body was riddled with bullets, his front was bloody, and with a frozen, empty look on his face. Mekel sat there, in absolute shock at what he had just witnessed. He had seen friends die before, in worse ways than that. But it still got him every time that it happened. He had to stop this, he knew that. And the only way to drive the Germans back was to get those tanks ready and out here. Quickly and surely, he got up on his feet and began running towards the guardhouse.

* * *

In another area of Bruhl, not far from the city center, there was another skirmish occurring in the town. Welkin, Alicia, Jack, and Noce were engaging a squad of Nazis in a large alley near one of the gates that led into the town. Alicia and Welkin were using one of the craters made by the artillery shots as cover while Noce and Jack were using a wall of sandbags. The Germans were hiding in one of the houses that had managed to avoid the fighting thus far. Occasionally they would expose themselves by firing out from one of the windows or through the door frame. The four of them would call out where one was exposed so that the others could concentrate their fire on them.

Welkin and Alicia just finished firing a salvo at one of the windows with their carbines. They were now hiding inside the crater to reload while Noce and Jack took their place and began to fire. Noce was using his carbine to accurately hit the ones who would appear on the second floor while Jack was using the MP-40 he took earlier to pepper the ones that dared to show their faces on the ground floor. After they had finished emptying their magazines, they immediately ducked back into cover.

Just before they hid behind the sandbags, they saw another squad of German soldiers arrive to support their comrades.

"Jesus, how many guys do they have?" asked Jack.

"I don't know. But we can't hold this position any longer. We need to fall back," explained Welkin.

"For once, I actually agree with that plan," added Noce.

"One of them has a grenade!" announced Alicia. Welkin looked to see one of the German soldiers knelt down near a small bush. He was holding a stick grenade in his hand as he was readying it to be thrown. Just as he was finished arming it and about to launch it, Welkin quickly took aim with his carbine and fired two shots at him, striking the soldier in the chest. He fell to the ground, the grenade still in his hand and ready to explode. His allies noticed it and quickly began to distance themselves from the blast radius. After a few seconds, the grenade exploded, sending shrapnel and debris flying everywhere.

The group took advantage of this distraction to make a hasty retreat to a different area of town before the Germans recovered from the grenade blast.

* * *

The shed near the Town Watch guardhouse had become a makeshift hospital. The wounded that had managed to make it there were being treated for a variety of injuries from bullet holes and shrapnel wounds, to various bruises and cuts. Susie, Jan, Miguro, along with about two other Town Watch members sat about using whatever medical supplies they had to help the wounded in any way they could. They did their best, but as time went on, more and more wounded were being sent towards the shed. Right now they were struggling to deal with about fifteen severely wounded men.

Mekel had just walked in and headed towards the four men who were working on one of the tanks. They had been operating on that thing for an hour, so Mekel thought that they should be done by now. "How's the tanks maintenance going?" he asked them.

They stopped working momentarily to give him the news about their progress. "It's still not in working condition yet. But its close," they explained.

Isara then appeared from behind the tank and explained further "I've done a check, but the engine plug..."

She didn't get to finish her sentence before being interrupted by Mekel. "I don't think a Darcsen is fit to teach me anything," he stated.

And as if on cue, the tanks engine roared back to life. The sound of the engine brought a smile to Mekel's face. Now with this tank, they could really take on the Germans. "Alright, the four of you, get in the tank and take positions. We're moving out," he ordered.

As they were all entering the tank, Isara called out to them "Wait! The tank's still undergoing maintenance. If you go out like that-"

But once again she was cut off as the tank suddenly lurched forward and drove out of the shed and towards the battle. If Isara had managed to finish her statement, she would have been able to fully explain the situation. There were still engine problems with the tank. If they went into battle, the tanks engine would stall out and eventually die, leaving them stranded in the middle of the battlefield.

* * *

The Gallian tank drove through the streets of Bruhl, looking for targets. They had passed their fourth block without seeing anything until on their left side they saw a Panzer IV firing on retreating on the retreating town watch. Mekel couldn't believe his luck.

First of all the tank was facing away from them, so its rear was completely exposed. Mekel knew from his service in the Great War that German tank armor was at its strongest in the front. However, their side and rear armor was generally weaker and therefore easy to penetrate. Mekel ordered his men to take aim at the Panzer. The gunner used a switch to traverse the turret while the gunner loaded an anti-tank shell into the cannon. Once the gun was lined up, Mekel gave the order to fire. The gunner pushed a button, and the cannon launched the shell straight into the Panzer. The Panzer exploded from the hit to its rear armor.

"Did you see that?! We just destroyed a German tank! By the hands of the Bruhl Town Watch!" cheered Mekel. His confidence had now boosted as they had managed to destroy one of the Panzers that were attacking the town.

"Let's move out," he ordered. The tank once again moved forward towards the sound of gunfire. However, they hadn't managed to move thirty feet before the tank engine began to sputter. It coughed a few more times before it finally died.

"What just happened?" he barked. Now Mekel's demeanor had changed. The driver did a quick diagnostic and reported "The engines dead, I can't get it to move."

They didn't have time to try and repair it. Mekel looked through the gun sights and saw another German tank coming just around the corner. The turret began to traverse towards them, indicating that they the Panzer had spotted them. Before they could do anything, the Panzer fired its main gun, destroying the Gallian tank in a single shot. The Panzer continued to press on, passing the flaming wreckage in its wake.

* * *

The remaining Town Watchmen that had survived managed retreated and regroup back at the guardhouse. Alicia looked on at the wounded. Their plan had failed, they couldn't prevent the Germans from taking Bruhl. The only people that were left that could fight were Welkin, Alicia, Isara, Jack, Noce, Susie, Jan, and Miguro. There wasn't enough of them left to even hold the guardhouse. What was left for them to fight for?

"We have about twenty dead and another fifteen wounded. There's barely anyone left," said Jack, commenting about their current situation.

"What do we do now?" asked Susie.

"I think now is a good time to make a break for it. I'm not very keen on dying here in some kind of ill-fated last stand," he explained.

Alicia took a moment to think this through. Jack was right. They didn't have much of a choice. If they stayed here, then they would all be killed. However, if they managed to flee then they would be able to live to fight another day.

"Alright, let's get going," she said quietly, with a hint of defeat in her voice.

They managed to gather the wounded and helped them into the back of a truck. Susie and Noce took the driver and passenger seats while Jan and Miguro opted to ride in the back with the wounded. Alicia and Jack would ride with Welkin and Isara inside the _Edelweiss_. Once they were all situated and ready, the _Edelweiss_ retreated away from Bruhl with the truck right behind them. And with this act, the Battle for Bruhl came to an end.

* * *

"_Two hours after the first shots were fired, Bruhl was under Nazi control. Though a mere skirmish by Nazi standards, the attack on Bruhl would mark Welkin Gunther's first taste of combat, and begin his rise to a Gallian hero. –Jack Lawrence"_

Dusk was now approaching as the sun began to set upon the horizon. The group had stopped to rest by a hill several miles from Bruhl. From up there they could see the scars that the battle left upon the town. Many of the buildings were damaged or destroyed. The Germans were taking time to lick their wounds before continuing on to the next town. Susie and Noce were helping Jan and Miguro check on the wounded. Alicia, Jack, Welkin and Isara stood by the edge of the hill, staring at the town. For most of them the feeling was hard. Their hometown was just taken away from them. The city where they had grown up was now gone. For them, the feeling was unbearable.

Alicia seemed more upset than the most of them. Welkin noticed that and tried to comfort her. "Alicia..." he spoke.

"I thought I would be ready for this. I knew war meant this might happen. It hurts, seeing my town overrun like this... seeing all those people killed... it's just not right. How could any of this happen? It isn't human Welkin," she said as tears began to flow down her face.

Welkin put his arm around her to help comfort her. He looked up to see a small flock of birds flying high above them. He gestured for everyone to look and see before claiming "We look at those birds and see how wild and free they are, but they each have their own territories. If anything threatens their home, they'll risk their lives to defend it. People are animals too. We do what we have to, when we have to. Animals are in a constant struggle to stay alive, but I've also seen them help each other, almost like they were cooperating in order to survive."

Alicia looked at him and asked "Cooperating?"

"That's why I'm so into studying natural science. That coexistence. I want to know how it works. If we can figure that out, mankind can put it to use for our own survival. That's what I want to become: a teacher. So I can pass that knowledge onto children," he explained.

Now everyone was looking at him. They all figured out what he was trying to say. Mankind will always fight with each other, but there is a chance for us to at least live together. And Welkin wanted to find a way to make that dream a reality.

"I mean, even if we can't completely eliminate war, at least we might learn to live together as one people," he finished, confirming what they all thought.

Jack let out a light sigh before asking "So it's begun. The war I mean?"

"Yeah. I've decided something. I'll join the Militia. I'll do whatever I can to protect Gallia. Even going to war, I'll do it," she replied.

Alicia then noticed a small white flower blooming right below her. She knelt down to pick it up. She then took he seeds out from the flower and allowed the cool breeze to take them away. The group looked on to see tiny little white seeds seemingly dance through the air and fly away from them.

"What are those?" asked Isara curiously.

"Seeds from the Lion's Paw, more commonly known as the Edelweiss flower. It's a common flower in Gallia. It blooms white. Small, simple, and strong," answered Welkin.

Jack took a quick look at the flower. He noticed something about it, something familiar. Suddenly, he remembered where he had seen it before. "Isn't that the flower that's painted on the _Edelweiss_?" he wondered out loud.

Welkin gave him a quick nod of confirmation before Alicia spoke up. "I want to remember, once the war is over. That is wasn't all just people killing people. That even in war, there is also new life," she noted.

And with that statement, they took one quick look at Bruhl, knowing that it wouldn't be the last time that they would see it.

"We'll come back. I know it. Someday, we'll come back home," mentioned Isara.

"_We then left for the capital that day. Along with what was left of the Bruhl town watch. There we were, with home at our backs, in a country that would soon be engulfed by war. We had no idea the challenges, the obstacles, or the seemingly impossible odds that now laid before us. But there was one thing that was true. Even though we didn't know for sure at that time, we would come back to Bruhl one day. And when we came back, this war would be over. And the Nazis would never come back. But before that could happen, we began the long drive back to Randgriz, and to whatever future happened next. –Jack Lawrence."_

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	7. The Birth of Squad 7

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is for entertainment purposes only.)_

_"On March 15, 1935, the Imperial Germanian Reich began their invasion across Gallia's Eastern border. Prince Maximillian, commander of the invasion, split his forces into three groups. And using Blitzkrieg tactics, they conquered the Principality with rapid progress. One came from the North, overrunning the Ghirlandaio fortress in one day. They than pushed forward through the fields of Naggiar, taking all of Northern Gallia and then pushing Southward as far as to the Rhine river. The second group pushed through the center from the Barious Desert and advancing within ten miles of the capital city of Randgriz. And finally, the third group came from the South through the Ardennes forest, wiping out the few Gallian units defending it, then advancing towards the rest of the forest, establishing defensive positions on the outskirts of the forest therefore turning the Ardennes into a fortress before pushing deeper into Southern Gallia. From the seas, the German Kriegsmarine blockaded the entire coast, taking the major coastal cities with Nazi marines and paratrooper units. By the middle of April, the Nazis had all but conquered Gallia. My friends and I managed to reach Randgriz after a few days of hard travel and settled down within one of the refugee camps set up within the city. Though the city had seen better days. One of the first cities that the Germans bombed was Gallia's capital of one and a half million. Many of the residential building took the majority of the hits, but surprisingly Castle Randgriz, the largest structure in Randgriz that was situated within the very center of the city, remained untouched. The large white and blue castle with it's massive unicorn spire stood taller than any of the other buildings with the city. Even dwarfing the large stone walls that surrounded the entire city. Within it resided Cordelia gi Randgriz, Gallia's princess and heir to the Gallian throne of Archduchess, the title of Gallia's ruler. Though with the recent state of the invasion, I doubted that she would remain a princess for long. As for us, Alicia joined the Militia a few days after we arrived in the city. That wasn't a very surprising decision on her part. Despite it's neutrality, Gallia was always surrounded by hostile powers. And supporting Gallia's policy of neutrality was a system of universal conscription. Under it, all schools required military training each year. In the event of an invasion, citizens were drafted into the Militia to defend their country. And as Gallia's war with Germania grew worse, we found ourselves no exceptions to that fate." -Jack Lawrence_

Fort Amaranthine. The headquarters for the entire Gallain military. The fortress resided on the western side of Randgriz river, same as the capital. The base itself was within ten miles of the capital. The base held barracks for the Militia and the Gallian Regular Army, hangers for their tanks and other vehicles, training grounds for new recruits, an R&amp;D development center, along with other various buildings. In the center was a very large and elaborate building which held the officers offices and war rooms for the Gallian Generals and others.

Walking through one of the halls was Alicia Melchiott in her full Militia outfit, escorted by an armed guard. She wore a blue tunic with long sleeves along with a skirt of the same color. She had on blue wool leggings and brown leather boots and gloves. Two red strips ran down the front of her tunic as well as one running down the bits of armored plating she was given as a Scout. She had armor plating on her upper arms, elbows, hips, knees, and upper legs. She put in a white layered clothing with thin red strips on the front of her uniform covering the top half of her tunic. Finally she wore a small red tie around her neck, a Bruhl town watch lapel pin, and finally she had the same red scarf on her head that she had when she was at Bruhl.

The Gallian Militia was less strict when it came to it's recruits and how they maintained their uniforms. Their recruits ranged from teenagers to veterans from the Great War. Uniform-wise, the members of the Militia were allowed to put their own personal touches on their uniforms by adding their own unique features and headgear. Men were given the same blue tunic and pants with some differences such as having only one red stripe on their tunic. The women had the option for either shorts or a skirt, though most went with the shorts. And both the members of the Militia and the Regulars wore different amounts of steel armored plating for added protection from bullets. The exact amount they wore depended on what class of infantry they were.

They did however have some standard equipment given to them. They were given a belt that included ammo pouches which had magazines for their guns, a canteen for water, a bayonet to fit on their rifles for charges or for close quarter combat, a pouch to hold their Ragnaid canisters, a pistol holster with a Colt 1911 pistol, and finally a cylindrical tube to hold a gas mask in case of a poison gas attack.

When Alicia volunteered with the Militia, they had placed her within the Scout class of infantry and gave her the rank of Sergeant due to her experience within the town watch at Bruhl. In the Gallian military, they separated their infantry within five different classes, each with it's own strengths and weaknesses. These classes were Scouts, Shocktroopers, Lancers, Engineers, and Snipers.

Scouts are armed with medium-long ranged semi-automatic rifles, hand grenades, small Ragnaid canisters, and under-barrel mounted grenade launchers. They are the Gallian forces primary reconnaissance units, with the best scouts able to detect an enemy hiding in tall grass at about twenty meters. In combat scouts are relatively weak in comparison to other infantry units and are ineffective against tanks, however they make up for their shortcomings with their long range primary weapon and devastating grenade launcher. The armor they use covers their upper arms, elbows, knees, and hips.

Shocktroopers are the core infantry class of the Gallian military. They are heavily armed soldiers armed with grenades, small Ragnaid canisters, and either a sub machine gun or a light machine gun, as well as an under-barrel mounted flamethrower. They excel at close ranged anti-infantry combat, especially urban and trench warfare and have been known to make up the bulk of infantry in large scale assaults and defensive actions. While they lack the peripheral vision of a Scout, they make up for this with a greater chance for survivalbility. They have armor covering their arms, hands, elbows, knees, chest, and hips.

Lancers are Gallia's primary anti-tank specialists. Armed with high-power, lance shaped launchers carrying a variety of warheads, grenades, small Ragnaid canisters, and a heavily armored blast shield. Their job is to help infantry take on enemy tanks and other armored vehicles. They have armor covering their knees, hips, groin, chest, and a large blast shield that covers most of their left arm.

Engineers are in charge of resupplying units in the field as well as repairing fortifications, vehicles, and defenses. Armed with a medium-long ranged semi automatic rifle, a pistol, grenades, Ragnaid canisters, and a variety of tools such as a shovel and wire cutters. They also carry a large backpack with them to carry extra ammo to resupply friendly infantry when they run out. The only armor they carry are the ones covering their knees, elbows, and upper arms.

Snipers are the sharpshooters of the Gallian forces. They are armed with long-ranged bolt-action rifles fitted with a telescopic sight, grenades, and small Ragnaid canisters. Their primary role on the battlefield is to eliminate enemy officers and provide support for friendly units. Many of the snipers in the Gallian forces can match even the best sharpshooters in all of Europe. The armor they wear covers their knees, elbows, and upper arms. They also wear black leather gloves and have a black leather cover over their right shoulder.

Alicia was being escorted to the war room where she was going to be briefed by Captain Varrot, the commander of the Militia's Third Regiment. Varrot is one of the most feared yet respected officers in the Gallian military. She had joined the military at the outbreak of the Great War and stayed on after the conflict ended, with her work ethic quickly seeing her promoted to the rank of Captain. Varrot had called her down to the war room to inform her on what Squad she would be placed in.

On the way there she caught glimpses at some Regular Army soldiers. They wore an outfit similar to the Militia's, but with a certain degree of differences. Their uniform was a noticeably darker shade of blue and instead of having red stripes like the Militia, theirs were white. They're pants were black and their uniforms were slightly more elaborate with having some gold color trimmings. When comparing the two uniforms side by side it seemed like the Militia's uniforms were more practical and battle oriented while the Regular's uniforms seemed ceremonial.

Finally, the guard escorting her stopped in front of a door and gestured her to enter. She followed his instructions and opened the door, entering the meeting room. When she closed the door, she took a good look at the room that she was now in. There was a large circular wooden table with about a dozen chairs placed around it. On the table was a large map of Gallia detailing the current situation of the war using red and blue markers to make out the positions of the Gallian and German forces. On one of the walls was Gallia's national flag. It consisted of two horizontal blue stripes on the outside with a white stripe on the inside. the three stripes were separated by red borders. In the center of the flag was Gallia's coat-of-arms. The country adopted the flag after Gallia regained her independence in the early 1800's. Now it stands as a reminder of their proud past and culture. And it also served the military as it's forces used it's colors for their uniforms.

"Varrot called you down here too?" called out a voice inside the room. Alicia took so long looking at the details of the room that she was completely blinded by the fact that there were already three people in the room sitting in the chairs. Alicia looked to her left and saw who they were. And when she saw who it was her mouth dropped open: It was Welkin, Jack, and Isara in Militia uniforms.

Welkin was sitting on the chair closest to her and was wearing the standard blue Militia uniform along with a blue side cap that a tank commander would wear. On his epaulets it showed that he had the rank of Lieutenant, and the emblem of his squad, the head of a white horse with a large yellow number seven emblazoned upon it, was shown below his left epaulet. Underneath she could see that he was wearing a white undershirt along with a blue necktie. On his belt, besides the standard military equipment, he had a Colt 1911 tucked inside of a leather holster, a long strip that held several flares, a pouch which held a flare gun, and pair of binoculars. He also wore what appeared to be a compass attached to a map encased in a leather container connected to a strap he placed around his neck. He didn't wear any armor aside from the metal plates covering his knees.

Jack was seated next to Welkin. He appeared more calm due to the fact that he had his feet upon the table. He wore the same uniform but it was mostly covered up by a large blue leather duster which showed the same squad emblem as Welkin as well as his rank, a Corporal, on the outside of it. He had on a US military M1 helmet painted blue with a white strip with a red outline going from the front to the back as well as having a white spade painted on both sides of his helmet and a pair of motorcycle goggles strapped to it. He had a bandoleer wrapped around his chest and over his shoulder and had strapped to it his twin Colt 1911's in holsters. Around his belt he had a cutlass, a kind of sword worn during the late 1700's, inside of it's scabbard and strapped to the left side of his belt. Finally he had an American flag folded round his neck as a kind of bandanna and face mask if the need presented itself. Out of everyone in the room, he had no armor on at all.

Lastly, Isara was seated farthest from Alicia, next to Jack. The Darcsen shawl she wore when they first met covered up most of her tunic. She wore a skirt like Alicia and around her belt were various tools such as wrenches, hammers, and pliers. Her face was dirty from soot indicating that she had been doing some kind of mechanical work somewhere. Like Welkin she only wore armored plating that covered her knees.

To say that Alicia was completely surprised by the fact that the three of them were in the Militia with her, as well as being in the exact same room she was supposed to be in was an understatement at least. When she left to enlist, they gave no indication of coming along with her so she just assumed that they weren't going to join. "What the-? Why the-? Why are you-?" stuttered Alicia in utter disbelief.

"Not big today on completing sentences are ya?" joked Jack. Alicia straightened herself and simply asked "What are you guys doing here?"

Welkin replied with "Waiting for Captain Varrot to arrive same as you."

Alicia slapped her face with the palm of her hand before quietly sitting down in the chair next to Welkin before asking again "No. What I mean is what are you guys doing 'here'? Meaning the Militia."

Isara was the first to reply "Oh, you mean that. The three of us enlisted with the Militia."

"After you left, the three of us got to talking. We figured that we could do more good fighting in the Militia than hiding in a refugee camp like the others," explained Welkin further. This did little to satiate Alicia whom said "It's can't be that simple Welkin. People don't just up and decide to join the military. So why did you join?"

Welkin's expression turned more somber after Alicia asked that question. It seemed like he was afraid telling her the truth as to his real intentions of joining. But ultimately he set those fears aside and answered as truthfully as he could. "Bruhl was my home too Alicia. Seeing all those innocent people die trying to defend that. I just couldn't ignore that. When we reached the capital I realized something: This war won't end quicker if I just sat on the sidelines and do nothing. So with Jack and Isara, we decided to volunteer and do the best we could to help Gallia as well as help protect my family and friends. That's why we're here."

Alicia was momentarily taken aback by his answer. When she first met Welkin she didn't think much about him. But after hearing his answer she saw a whole new side of him. One that showed how he cared for his friends and family, and would be willing to do anything to defend them. She could see how upset he had become answering her question so she turned to Jack to try and change the topic. "What about you Jack? Why are you here? Most of the Americans in Gallia have all fled," she asked.

Taking his feet off the table and straightening himself out, he replied with "I like to think of myself as selfish and irresponsible as the next guy. But like Welkin said, I couldn't forget what happened at Bruhl. A lot of people were killed there. And I was almost one of them. Also, I have some experience in fighting a war. So I figured that my joining the Militia could be somewhat helpful. Plus, I'm not one who has any love for the Nazis, so I'll happily help with taking a few of them down along the way."

Lastly, Alicia turned over to Isara and asked her the same question. Before Isara could answer, Welkin interrupted and informed "Her enlisting wasn't originally part of the idea. I wanted her to remain at the refugee camp where it was safe. However she's so stubborn that she managed to convince us to have her tag along."

"Believe it or not, this little girl can be very persuasive if not annoying at it," added Jack, pointing a finger at Isara who simply smiled at the comment.

"Don't ever change Jacky," chucked back Isara.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I'm just glad they let you bring the _Edelweiss_ with you," said Jack. Alicia was a little surprised by what she had just heard. They brought their tank with them? she thought. But she then figured that the fact that it could go toe to tow with a German Panzer was probably why they decided to let them bring it along. That reminded Alicia about the soot that covered Isara's face.

"Is that what that soot is from," she asked her.

Isara nodded her head and answered "Yes. I was doing some maintenance when we were called here. I added a few upgrades on the _Edelweiss_ when we arrived here. I figured that since we were in the Militia now that I'd at least get it ready for battle. I added a new turbine engine. It really improves on the power to weight ratio. I've also added some armored skirts covering the sides and around the turret for some added protection. I've also placed another fifty caliber machine gun on a mount next to the turret hatch for extra defense against infantry attacks as well as reinforced the barrel to give it some added range and power. They should come in real handy in the future."

After Isara was finished explaining, Welkin looked over to Alicia and said "Tell us a little about yourself Alicia." She looked at him a little puzzled and asked him "Why do you want to know about me?"

"Whoa, calm down. He probably figured that since we're going to be fighting together that we should all get to know each other," clarified Jack.

"Oh. Well, I've lived in Bruhl my whole life. When I was sixteen I began apprenticing at the local bakery. It's where I live too," she explained. "Is that where that scarf is from?" asked Isara, gesturing to Alicia's scarf.

"Yeah. It was part of my uniform when I worked at the bakery. I don't want to forget all the time I spent baking bread all those hours. When the war's over O plan to go right back and start baking some bread again," she explained.

"Well then. I'm sure I'll be first in line to buy some," stated Welkin. "Is that a promise? Well then I'll hold you to that then. So what about you then?" commented Alicia.

Now it was Welkin's turn to talk. He explained "Well, I've lived in Bruhl my whole life. When I was six, my father adopted an infant Isara and we've been siblings ever since. In high school I took an armored vehicle course along with an officer course. That pretty much explains how I made Lieutenant. At the University, my major was Natural Science. In fact, that's where I first met Jack."

"Oh really," said Alicia, her curiosity peaked.

"I guess this means that it's my turn to talk," summarized Jack before continuing with "Alright then. Well I'm a New Yorker, born and raised there. My father was an Ambassador to Europa so I spent much of my childhood abroad at various Europan countries along with a few other ones as well. Most of those trips were on peacekeeping missions in Germania. Due to my extensive travels I've become fluent in a whole array of languages. When the Russian invaded through Alaska in 32', I used some forged papers to enlist in the military. I served throughout the entire war until it ended in 34'. By that time I had managed to gather a reputation throughout the public as well as obtaining the rank of Captain. Then after the war I came to Randgriz to study."

"Wow," admitted Alicia, who was in complete awe by what she just heard. But one question still lingered in her mind though. "How exactly did the two of you meet exactly?"

"I saved Jack from some bullies," admitted Welkin. Alicia looked at him with a look of surprise as she was not expecting that response. Welkin continued with "When Jack came to the university there were a few people who didn't like him due to the fact that America stayed out of the Great War. A few of them decided to take that anger out on him. They managed to beat him pretty badly before my friends and I found him. We pulled them off of him and drove them off. When we found him he was all bloody and bruised and he may of had some cracked ribs."

"They did crack a few ribs," interjected Jack "They also broke my leg as well as dislocated one of my shoulders and put me into a coma. I woke up a week later in a hospital with Welkin and his friends sitting beside me. I thanked them for helping me and the two of us have been friends ever since."

"Wow. Heck of a way to meet someone," admitted Alicia. Before she could continue, Isara nudged Jack in the shoulder and suggested to him "Show her the medal."

Reaching behind the American flag wrapped around his neck, he pulled out a five pointed gold star with it's points connected by a green wreath. It was attached to a gold bar with an eagle atop it. The medal was connected to a blue sash where the portion above the medal had thirteen white stars stitched onto it. Jack then went on to explaining the medal "This right here is the Medal of Honor. It's the highest award a member of the United States military can receive. I won it for my actions at the Siege of Anchorage during the first few months of the war." He held it out for a few seconds longer before placing back underneath the bandanna around his neck.

Right after he finished putting it away, the door opened up and in walked Captain Varrot. She was a woman of thirty five years old, had black hair with much of it tied in a bun on the back of her head. She had a small pair of glasses over her emerald green eyes. In addition to her blue officers uniform she had a small cape on, an officer's cap, and her skirt ran all the way down to her boots.

When she entered the room all four of them stood up and gave her a salute. She simply looked at them and stated "At ease soldiers." All four of them dropped their salutes and sat right back down in their chairs. Varrot took one of the chairs nearest to them and sat down as well. When they were all situated Varrot got down to business. "You're all here to find out which squad you'll be put in. As of today the four of you will make up Squad 7. Corporal Isara Gunther, you'll be the squad's tank pilot and mechanic. You'll be in charge of maintaining and operating your tank the _Edelweiss_. Corporal Lawrence, you'll serve as the Quartermaster. Informing your commander about the status or your equipment and squad members is your responsibility. Lieutenant Gunther, you're now Squad 7's commanding officer with Sergeant Melchiott serving as your second-in-command. Any questions?"

Jack slowly raised his hand and asked "Ma'am, there's only four of us here. Where are we going to get more recruits?"

"I'll give you a folder filled with other soldiers I've placed in your squad. I'll give you the details about it tomorrow. Until then, you four are dismissed," she explained. The four of them gave her one final salute before getting out of their seats and exiting the room. As they walked down the hall, Jack wrapped his arms around both Alicia's and Welkin's shoulders with Welkin wrapping one arm around Isara's shoulders. And with a joyful smile he started singing a small song that came to his head at the moment. One that Jack remembered that he used to sing in times of war.

_Feel the breeze_

_Look at the sky_

The other three simply chucked a little bit for they all knew the song that Jack was singing and somehow decided to join in with the song. Welkin was first.

_Sun's heating my cold skin_

_Take a breath_

_Look around_

_See the world_

Then Alicia.

_But this wind, make me hear_

_Far away moan_

_Heroes voices choked by war_

_By the war_

Then Isara.

_And I feel, one day for real_

_Will all erase the past mistakes_

_The sun will wash away the dirty black rain_

Then all four of them began singing the song together.

_The whole world, shows us it's majesty_

_The noise of fear, will hide in the depth_

_And lights from today, show us the way_

_"The four of us walked down the halls the rest of that day singing that song. That day is one that I'll always remember. It was the day that Squad 7 was born. But for me, it was the day I spent with three people closest to me. Three people, whom I considered to be my closest friends." -Jack Lawrence_

* * *

**The song lyrics used here are from the song in the War Thunder Trailer 'Heroes'.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	8. Squad 7 Roster

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_April 14, 1935 _

_1000 hours (10:00 am)_

Welkin, Alicia, and Isara were back in the Rec Room, sitting at the same table that they were in yesterday after their meeting with Captain Varrot. They had gathered there while Jack went to see the good Captain as to find out who would be placed in their squad. The waiting had just hit the fifteen minute mark when they saw Jack entering through the door holding a clipboard in his hand with several sheets of paper attached to it.

"So how did it go?" asked Isara.

"About as well as you'd expect. I got our squad roster right here," said Jack as he took an empty chair and sat down with his friends.

"I've read through each of them, including us," added Jack.

"So what do you think about them?" asked Welkin.

"The nicest way for me to describe them is that they are the biggest bunch of misfits I've ever seen," commented Jack.

"Come on, they can't be that bad," assured Alicia.

"The only two that I thought would be useful are the two other officers placed within our squad," said Jack.

"Who are they?" inquired Isara.

"They are Sergeant Largo Potter, a Lancer. And Corporal Bridgette Stark, though according to her report she tends to be called 'Rosie'. She's a Shocktrooper," he explained.

"Mind if I take a look at those?" suggested Welkin.

"Knock yourself out," he joked as he handed the clipboard to Welkin.

As Welkin began to take a look at the squad roster, Isara and Alicia moved near him in order to get a good look at what he was reading.

* * *

**Militia Squad 7 of Regiment 3**

The following are the members currently assigned to serve in Squad 7. Names and information about said members are listed below along with a picture and description of them.

**Main Officers**

Welkin Gunther

Rank: Lieutenant

Birth Date: c.1913 (22 years old)

Height: 175cm

Role: Commanding Officer of Squad 7 and Tank Commander

Unit Class: Scout and Tank Commander

Info: The son of Great War hero General Belgen Gunther, Welkin joined the Gallian Militia along with several of his friends after the Germans attacked his hometown of Bruhl. His extensive military training in school has earned him command over Squad 7 as well as commanding their unique tank: the _Edelweiss_. Before the war he was studying at Randgriz University, majoring in Natural Science. He hopes that after the war he can continue his studies and become a teacher.

Alicia Melchiott

Rank: Sergeant

Birth Date: c.1916 (19 years old)

Height: 159cm

Role: Second-in-command in Squad 7

Unit Class: Scout

Info: A young lady who hopes one day to become a baker. She served as an apprentice at a bakery then as a member of the Bruhl town watch. She joined the Militia shortly after escaping from Bruhl. From her previous experience she was given the rank of Sergeant and serves as a Scout. She is extremely reliable, full of righteousness, and loves taking care of others.

Isara Gunther

Rank: Corporal

Birth Date: c.1919 (16 years old)

Height: 152.5cm

Role: Tank Mechanic and Pilot

Unit Class: Scout or Engineer

Info: Isara is the biological daughter of the Darcsen engineer Theimer. She serves Squad 7 as the _Edelweiss's_ pilot and mechanic. When her parents died when she was just an infant, General Gunther, a friend of her father, took her in and raised her as his daughter. She and Welkin grew up together and grew very close, so close that she joined the Militia just to stay with her brother. Even though they aren't related by blood, they still treat each other as if they were. Taking to follow in her father's footsteps, she is a prodigy engineer who earned several credentials before enlisting in the Militia. Being a Darcsen, she is discriminated by a large number of people. Her brother has had to occasionally come to her rescue in order to protect her. However, she never retaliated back and believes that one day her people will be seen as equals.

Jack Lawrence

Rank: Corporal

Birth Date: c.1916 (18 years old)

Height: 170cm

Role: Squad Quartermaster, Heavy Machine Gunner, Translator, and German Military Expert

Unit Class: Proficient at all classes. Mostly prefers Shocktrooper class.

Info: A young volunteer from the United States of America. Jack is the son of a former ambassador who is now America's current Secretary of State. During his father's tour as an ambassador, Jack spent much of his childhood traveling across Europa on diplomatic visits. This gave him valuable experience as to European politics and society. He also has valuable knowledge on German weapons and tactics since most of his father's political trips in the Reich were held near military bases. He is also fluent in most languages found in Europa and others around the world. A military man at heart, he used forged papers to enlist in the United States Army at the onset of the Soviet-American War at only 15. There he served with distinction, and by the age of 17 had earned several medals including the Medal of Honor as well as the rank of Captain by the wars end in 1934. After the war, he enrolled at Randgriz University and eventually befriended Welkin Gunther. When Gallia was invaded, he enrolled along with Welkin to defend Gallia. His experience in the American military has made him proficient at every class along with him earning the rank of Corporal. Despite his carefree and easygoing demeanor, he is in fact a serious guy who knows the gravity of the situation that he's in and will set aside his jokes and focus on the situation at hand. Jack is an intelligent guy and a man who sometimes seems wise beyond his years who often spouts some of that wisdom when he believes it's necessary.

Bridgette "Rosie" Stark

Rank: Corporal

Birth Date: c.1908 (27 years old)

Height: 168cm

Role: Head Shocktrooper

Unit Class: Shocktrooper

Description: Eye color is red along with a few freckles on her cheeks. Red hair is tied into two large buns on the sides of her head, though a few locks dangle over her forehead. Wears a pair of black circular earrings along with a black choker. She has unbuttoned the first few buttons of her uniform, allowing her collar to not constrict her neck. For her uniform her skirt is slightly shorter than others as well as she has a corset under her uniform which can be shown around her waist where she cut the tunic. Part of the corset has been removed to show a portion of her belly. This allows her to move faster on the battlefield.

Info: Formerly a bartender and songstress from a bar in her hometown of Ghirlandio, she still bears the nickname "Rosie", given to her by the bar-going regulars. She is a super-intense member of the Militia, and has often been accused of being hot-blooded and straightforward. She however cares greatly for her comrades, acting somewhat of a big sister to them. Despite her education (and with it her military training) ending at middle-school level, experience with her town watch earned her the rank of Corporal in the Militia. Her hobbies include cards, which she picked up while working at her bar job.

Largo Potter

Rank: Sergeant

Birth Date: c.1899 (36 years old)

Height: 185cm

Role: Head Lancer

Unit Class: Lancer

Description: A big, tough, and muscled soldier. He has a scar across his nose from a shrapnel wound sustained from the Great War. His short brown hair extends to a short beard that ends with a bare patch at his chin. He has rolled up his sleeves in order to have greater control over his anti-tank lance.

Info: Largo is a veteran of the Great War, enlisting in the Gallian Militia when the war broke out. There he served with Captain Varrot who was a sniper back then. The two of them were decorated for their efforts in a battle where they destroyed five German tanks by themselves which halted an enemy advance. Largo was presented many opportunities for promotion, denying all of them to stay on the front lines. Due to his views on experience being the only valuable trait in a soldier, he is generally skeptic of higher ranking officers with no combat experience.

**Enlisted Personnel**

[Scout Class]

Aika Thompson

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1918 (17 years old)

Unit Class: Scout

Description: A young woman with brown eyes who has tied her orange colored hair into two long braids, showing off her tomboyish side. She wears a pair of googles strapped to her head. Finally she wears a pair of emerald earrings given to her by Vyse.

Info: Aika hails from a distant land, and has traveled much of the world with Vyse. She has known Vyse since childhood, and can't help but stick her nose into his business all the time. The more Aika feels like she is trapped in a corner, the stronger she seems to be. She is straight-forward and lively, to say the least. She is a bright and cheerful girl, but is scared of ghosts and bugs. Though most people find her tomboyish braids quite charming, few know how beautiful and feminine she actually looks when she lets her hair down.

Cherry Stijnen

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1919 (16 years old)

Unit Class: Scout

Description: She has blue eyes and had her blonde hair tied up into a pony tail.

Info: Trends and pretty boys form the center of her world, with "Gallian Girl" weekly her preferred fix for top-notch photos of both. Cherry loves men and anything that is currently "in". She has a habit of saying "like" when she speaks. The only reason why she joined the militia was because it would allow her to see the big city. She considers the free-spirited Rosie to be an excellent role model.

Freesia York

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1917 (18 years old)

Unit Class: Scout

Description: A woman with brown eyes and tanned skin. She has tied her long black hair into a ponytail that is slightly messy.

Info: Freesia used to make a living as a traveling dancer in and around the desert region, called "Dancer of the Sands", business was well until the Reich's attack started, driving her to enlist. She had lost her parents when she was very young, so Freesia had grown up as a free spirit with no restrictions. As a result, Freesia felt rather uncomfortable when she realized that people had actually depended on her when she joined the Militia, and she also found out that endurance is not her greatest trait. She can often be seen trying to flirt with other men in the Militia.

Hermes Kissinger

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1907 (28 years old)

Unit Class: Scout

Description: His shoulder length brown hair covers his blue cloth that he has wrapped around his forehead and tied back behind his head. Hermes has brown eyes that are the same color as his hair.

Info: Born and raised in the open grasslands, Hermes cannot stand tight spaces. He is a slim pretty boy who feels a need to chat up every woman he sees. Unfortunately for Hermes, he has a serious lack of stamina and can never keep up with any woman that he goes out with. As a result, he always leaves their date before it is actually over, and needless to say this has left him with a rather poor reputation among the ladies.

Juno Coren

Rank: Corporal

Birth Date: c.1913 (22 years old)

Unit Class: Scout

Description: She has a small pair of glasses covering her blue eyes. She has shoulder length blonde hair.

Info: Juno was a schoolmate of Welkin's. She has never felt alright in tight spaces. As you might expect from her appearance, she is a highly intelligent young woman who attracted the attention of many hopeful suitors at school. At the university, she was studying Microbiology.

Melville Young

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1916 (19 years old)

Unit Class: Scout

Description: He has brown eyes and he has turned his hair into an orange Mohawk while shaving off the rest of the hair on his head.

Info: Melville decided to join the militia because he had so much extra energy with no way to burn it. Melville is a very cheerful and friendly guy who can get along with just about anyone. He is a dedicated carnivore, and shows a particular interest in porcavians, a rare breed of pigs that live in Gallia.

Montley Leonard

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1919 (16 years old)

Unit Class: Scout

Description: A young man with short messy hair and brown eyes. He wears a small white bandage that runs across his nose.

Info: Montley grew up in the expansive grasslands of Gallia, among wild animals. After being chased around by a longhorn stag, he developed a fear of anything pointy. Montley is incapable of being still for very long, and he has a habit of saying, "Time is money".

Nancy Dufour

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1920 (15 years old)

Unit Class: Scout

Description: Her long brown hair is tied up into two small ponytails. She has a pair of large circular glasses over her brown eyes. She wears a blue beret on her head that has a black tassel attached to it.

Info: Born and raised on a ranch, Nancy is a very simple girl. Her life on the family farm led her to grow up rather sheltered. She's completely happy to stand around in a horse barn all day. She makes tripping over her own two feet look easy. On the farm, she once dropped a basket containing a hundred fresh eggs. Her father nearly exploded.

Noce Wordsworth

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1916 (19 years old)

Unit Class: Scout

Description: His brown hair is covered by a blue bandana he has kept on his head. His brown eyes tend to fit well with his rugged features.

Info: A resident of Bruhl, Noce used to belong to the town watch along with Alicia and Susie, both of which were his childhood friends. His hobbies include writing and performing songs. He tends to be very protective of his friends and comrades.

Ramona Linton

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1917 (18 years old)

Unit Class: Scout

Description: Her red hair is tied up into a simple yet stylish bun on the left side of her head. She has aqua eyes.

Info: With her sharp fashion sense, Ramona used to work as a model for the popular magazine called "Gallian Girl" before joining the Militia. She has an obsessive interest in everything that's "in" and "cool," so she was constantly sneaking out of her house whenever her parents weren't looking, to visit the shopping district in town. Ramona suffers from low blood pressure, and is definitely not a morning person.

Susie Evans

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1916 (19 years old)

Unit Class: Scout

Description: A young woman with long, curly blond hair. She wears a pink bow on the back of her head and if you look close enough into her blue eyes, you can see a glimpse of her innocence in them.

Info: Susie is a childhood friend of Noce and Alicia as well as a former member of the Bruhl town watch. As the daughter of a frontier tycoon, Susie comes from a very wealthy family, and therefore lacks common sense when it comes to the value of money or how the world works. She tends to spend vast amounts of money without hesitation, once naively paying 25 Ducats for a single apple. Susie joined the militia in order to uphold her family's honor, but she is a very passive person who wouldn't even hurt a fly, so needless to say she despised the war and all the fighting that was involved.

Ted Ustinov

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1919 (16 years old)

Unit Class: Scout

Description: Ted has brown eyes and short hair that is spiked upwards.

Info: Ted is the son of two Russian immigrants who came and settled in Gallia before he was born. Ted loves to see people being happy, and he'll do just about anything to make someone laugh. He is highly allergic to most metals. He dreams of becoming a full-time clown once the war ends. He's tried several different things to try and get a smile out of Marina, but none of his attempts have been successful thus far.

Wavy

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1898 (37 years old)

Unit Class: Scout

Description: Wavy has short hair which is dark-blue, the same as his eyes which signifies that he is a Darcsen. He wears a pair of square glasses and has a small and short beard.

Info: Wavy is a Darcsen teacher. Polite and discreet, Wavy rarely expresses his emotions. Everyone knows that Wavy is completely devoted to his wife, and he joined the militia in order to keep his wife and young daughter safe.

[Shocktrooper Class]

Aisha Neumann

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1923 (12 years old)

Unit Class: Shocktrooper

Description: She is shorter than most soldiers in the Militia due to her young age. She has brown eyes and hair that is tied up into two small pig tails. Though small in stature, she has the physical endurance and skill to wield a submachine gun.

Info: By the remarkably young age of 12, Aisha had already passed all of her military training courses. Her immeasurable IQ was matched only by her athleticism. Back home, she was praised as a genius. Though Gallian law says that only people aged 16 and over can be allowed into the Militia, Aisha was accepted due to her credentials. The natural curiosity and bountiful energy that accompanies youth are her most valuable traits on the battlefield. Her dream is to be the greatest military personnel ever when she grows up, and spends most of her free time teaching herself tactics and the art of war.

Alex Raymond

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1917 (18 years old)

Unit Class: Shocktrooper

Description: He has blue eyes, short blonde hair, and a small piece of cloth tied to one of his locks.

Info: His leap-before-you-look brashness and flighty, carefree nature have earned him the name "Bird" among his friends in the squad. A fan of any spot with a clear view, he was known for dropping everything to climb tall trees he came across. Vyse's tales of the sky always captivated him.

Coby Caird

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1870 (65 years old)

Unit Class: Shocktrooper

Description: An elderly man who has lost all of the hair on his head, the only hair remaining is some on his upper lip which is equivalent of a mustache. He wears a blue headband around his head. He has brown eyes.

Info: A foreman for a carpentry company before he joined the militia, his bad back is the result of an injury suffered during Great War. He joined the Militia in order to defend his remaining family. During the German invasion during the Great War, his daughter was killed during the opening shots.

Dorothy Howard

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1917 (18 years old)

Unit Class: Shocktrooper

Description: Her eyes are blue and her brown hair is tied up into a ponytail in the back of her head with a small lock dangling over her forehead. She may seem frail, but she can hold her ground.

Info: Her family runs an ironwork's plant in the industrial city of Fouzen, in northern Gallia. Dorothy is extremely shy, and will blush whenever she has to stand in front of other people. In addition, Dorothy was born with physical frailties, so her family was always very overprotective of her. Her dream is to become a designer of accessories made of precious metals, but her shy nature prevents her from starting an actual jewelry brand.

Edy Nelson

Rank: Corporal

Birth Date: c.1918 (17 years old)

Unit Class: Shocktrooper

Description: Her long silver hair is put into two long pigtails and brown eyes. Her pigtails are covered with two blue bows.

Info: As a self-proclaimed actress growing up in a tiny rural town, she was quite the starlet. Though proud, she lacks coping skills. Unable to forgive anyone who draws the public's eye away from her, she feels a strong (and one sided) sense of rivalry against Rosie. Although she can be very arrogant at times, she still is a kind person at heart.

Hannes Salinger

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1904 (31 years old)

Unit Class: Shocktrooper

Description: A gruff and tough looking man. He has dirty, shoulder length hair. He has brown eyes and has stubble on his face.

Info: As soon as he heard that Germania was threatening his homeland, Hannes volunteered to join the militia. Having grown up among nature in the southern region of Gallia, Hannes's lifestyle of self-sufficiency provided him with both a strong body and enduring spirit. Hannes is not used to wearing many layers of clothes, so he has a tendency to remove his uniform at every opportunity.

Jane Turner

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1908 (27 years old)

Unit Class: Shocktrooper

Description: She has shoulder length black hair as well as blue eyes. Her once innocent look in her eyes has now been replaced by a seething hatred.

Info: Jane had her own flower shop in Bruhl, but it was destroyed in during the German attack. The more battle she participated in, the more she came to enjoy killing Nazi soldiers. As her addiction to the killing grew, she always made sure that she was at the forefront of every charge.

Kevin Abbott

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1910 (25 years old)

Unit Class: Shocktrooper

Description: He has brown eyes and his brown hair is cut using a bowl cut hair style.

Info: Skittish and introverted, he found interactions with others difficult. He seemed rather uncomfortable with his role as a Shocktrooper. Though he'd intended to enlist as an engineer or sniper, his inability to choose between them eventually saw him assigned to trooper work by default.

Mica Hawkins

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1909 (28 years old)

Unit Class: Shocktrooper

Description: He has short, neatly combed black hair with blue eyes and a small pair of glasses.

Info: Mica is a little neurotic, and stresses himself out over the smallest detail. He enjoys work that requires attention to detail, like repairs, but his obsessive ways have resulted in mechanical malfunctions more than a few times. Mica's poor reputation as a mechanic resulted in his being removed for repair duty several times. This also leads his weapon to tend to malfunction.

Nina Streiss

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1906 (29 years old)

Unit Class: Shocktrooper

Description: She has short brown hair and brown eyes. She is slightly more muscular and fit than most of the woman in Squad 7.

Info: Her belief that a sound body saves lives motivates her to train her physique daily. In nine years she hasn't missed a day's work out. The heavy armor covering tanks and blast suits worn by lancers run counter to her philosophy of fighting with one's body alone, earning them both her disdain.

Salinas Milton

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1911 (24 years old)

Unit Class: Shocktrooper

Description: A handsome young man with brown eyes with his short red hair combed over to the left side of his head.

Info: Salinas's handsome face ensures that he is perpetually surrounded by women. Being the gentleman that he is, Salinas never turns away a hopeful female, which has unfortunately resulted in a long trail of heartbroken women. Salinas is a hardcore tank geek, and the only reason why he even joined the militia was for an opportunity to see a tank up close. Many people have seen Salinas wandering around in the research and development facility late night, lovingly petting the tanks that are stored there.

Vyse Inglebard

Rank: Corporal

Birth Date: c.1918 (17 years old)

Unit Class: Shocktrooper

Description: A young man with brown hair and medium length black hair. He has a scar under his left eye from an event in his childhood and his right eye is covered with a clear glass eyepatch strapped over his head.

Info: Vyse has traveled the world and experienced many adventures with Aika, his childhood friend. He originally hails from a land quite distant from the continent of Europa. Once Vyse starts talking about the sky, no force in the world can stop him. Vyse tends to get more excited when the odds are stacked against him, and he has the strength of will necessary to beat such odds.

Wendy Cheslock

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1910 (25 years old)

Unit Class: Shocktrooper

Description: She has short brown hair and brown eyes. She is easily identifiable on the battlefield by her woolen cap and black eye markings.

Info: Wendy volunteered to be a Shocktrooper so that she would get the chance to test out her explosives on the front lines, first-hand. Rumors say she keeps a small bomb tucked away under her cap. One time, Wendy had locked herself up in her house to develop a new bomb when she accidentally mixed the wrong amounts of explosive materials and blew up her own house, though luckily she survived.

[Lancer Class]

Elysse Moore

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1918 (17 years old)

Unit Class: Lancer

Description: She has short brown hair and brown eyes.

Info: She was raised by her father, a fencing instructor to the nobility, who recommended she enlist as a way to harden her psyche. Generally laid-back, it often takes her a while to build up steam. Once she gets going, however, she has the tenacity and staying power to master nearly anything.

Hector Calvey

Rank: Corporal

Birth Date: c.1910 (25 years old)

Unit Class: Lancer

Description: He has brown eyes along with messy black hair and a white cloth wrapped around his head.

Info: The former head of the local watch in his home village, he showed a natural leadership that won the respect of all his soldiers. People still speak of the time he routed a German team with only a handful of soldiers at his side. He dreams of starting a shipping company one day.

Jann Walker

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1908 (27 years old)

Unit Class: Lancer

Description: A man with short, tan colored hair and brown eyes. He is very muscular.

Info: An openly gay member of Squad 7. Based on his external appearance, most are surprised to find that Jann has a very delicate and feminine personality. Muscles send him to the moon, whether they be his own or those of the other gents in the squad. A mother hen by nature, he worked as a babysitter before enlisting.

Nils Daerdan

Rank: Private

Birth date: c.1906 (29 years old)

Unit Class: Lancer

Description: A tough man with brown eyes and brown hair that was brushed back.

Info: A denizen of the capital city's seedy underbelly, his was a solitary life. He remained undefeated through countless turf wars. Burly, rugged and stoic, he's had more than a few ladies approach him, but none have yet managed to sway him from his lone wolf ways.

Rosina Selden

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1911 (24 years old)

Unit Class: Lancer

Description: She has tanned skin, brown eyes, and medium length dark-brown hair.

Info: A sort of older sister figure to many 7's, her teammates affectionately call her "Lady Rose". She enjoys working out when off-duty. With "must have muscle" as her personal mantra, she views the generally slender Darcsen race as inferior.

Theold Bohr

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1917 (18 years old)

Unit Class: Lancer

Description: He has brown eyes and blonde hair that has been groomed with way too much hair gel.

Info: An impoverished childhood has driven home the importance of wealth for him, driving him to seek fame and fortune as a war hero. Born in an isolated village, he bears a strong hatred for Darcsen "heretics". Weak to the strong, but strong to the weak, he enjoys tormenting Kevin.

Walter Nash

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1902 (33 years old)

Unit Class: Lancer

Description: A tough and gruff man with brown hair. He wears a pair of dark shades that covers his eyes.

Info: Contrary to his gruff looks, his hobbies include cooking and tending his garden. Prone to wild mood swings, his self-confidence can come and go at a moment's notice. Because cooking helps calm him, he hopes to open a restaurant one day.

Yoko Martens

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1898 (37 years old)

Unit Class: Lancer

Description: A woman with brown eyes and red hair that she keeps under her blue bandanna.

Info: She ran a well-loved Randgriz eatery until donating all the food in her larder to refugees one day and joining the Militia. Largo's resemblance to her ex-husband causes her to avoid him as she searches elsewhere for a man to act as a father to her one son.

[Engineer Class]

Claudia Mann

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1916 (19 years old)

Unit Class: Engineer

Description: A young woman with blue eyes and black hair tied with a red bow that is the same color as her headband.

Info: Claudia joined the militia in order to win back her peaceful life. She feels she is cursed with bad luck, as every time she left her home, she was showered with misfortune. She ended up locking herself up in her house, but even that safe haven was destroyed with the coming of the war.

Dallas Wyatt

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1920 (15 years old)

Unit Class: Engineer

Description: A young woman with short light-brown hair and green eyes.

Info: Having grown up attending an all-girls school for wealthy families, Dallas tends to find men a little annoying. This may be the reason why her romantic interests have always been women. She was once so attracted to one girl that she followed her everywhere like a puppy.

Herbert Nielson

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1917 (18 years old)

Unit Class: Engineer

Description: He has medium length, light brown hair and brown eyes.

Info: Herbert grew up in the desert region, where the weather greatly affected the daily life of the residents. He refuses to exert more energy than absolutely necessary, and all of his actions are dictated by how he feels at the time. If Herbert does not feel like doing something, no force in this world can spur him into action. He started taking horse riding lessons because he could not feel very motivated to actually walk to where he wanted to go, and horsemanship ended up becoming his most specialized skill.

Homer Peron

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1920 (15 years old)

Unit Class: Engineer

Description: A young man with short, curly, blonde hair and blue eyes.

Info: A sensitive soul dwells within the angelic exterior of this young boy who volunteered for service despite his frail constitution. Pain and misfortune yield blissful joy for this twisted cherub, a trait that likely explains his choice to join the war effort. He is often seen never far away from Edy.

Karl Landzaat

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1912 (23 years old)

Unit Class: Engineer

Description: A man with his brown hair now replaced with a complete buzz cut. He also has a pair of glasses over his brown eyes.

Info: Karl had a job in the ironwork's on the outskirts of Fouzen before he had to flee to the capital city in order to avoid the Nazi Darcsen hunters. Being rather fainthearted, Karl tends to freeze up when overcome by fear, but joined the Militia in order to ensure a safe and happy future for himself and his Darcsen fiancée, Lynn.

Nadine

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1908 (27 years old)

Unit Class: Engineer

Description: Her dark-blue, shoulder length hair and dark-blue eyes a clear factors of her Darcsen heritage.

Info: Nadine is an intelligent Darcsen who has a Master's degree in literature. She is very dependable, and always performs her duties to perfection. Nadine is very loyal to anyone who earns her trust, whether they are Darcsens or not, and she would willingly put herself in danger to protect her comrades. She hopes to one day be a successful romance author.

Ramsey Clement

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1914 (21 years old)

Unit Class: Engineer

Description: A woman with brown eyes and her brown hair tied in two short ponytails.

Info: Ramsey has enjoyed tinkering with mechanical things ever since she was a little girl. She attended school to learn more about this hobby, and even tried to develop a new type of weapon in university. Ramsey has trouble focusing on the details, so the equipment she "repairs" tends to malfunction. To counteract this unfortunate tendency, Ramsey attempted to develop a weapon that would never need any kind of maintenance, but grew bored with the project and quit half way through.

[Sniper Class)

Catherine O'Hara

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1900 (35 years old)

Unit Class: Sniper

Description: A woman with brown eyes and shoulder length dark brown hair.

Info: The daughter of Irish immigrants, she still carries that Irish accent even though she was born in Gallia. Catherine is a veteran of the Great War, and it wasn't a difficult decision for her to join the militia when Germania invaded. She cherishes her bond with her comrades above all else. She once failed to save a comrade when she ran out of ammo, and since then she refuses to go anywhere without a weapon and a fully supply of ammo.

Cezary Regard

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1912 (23 years old)

Unit Class: Sniper

Description: A man with long locks of silver hair with a few locks dangling over the top his face and over his blue eyes.

Info: Cezary was born and raised in a small village near the Barious Desert. He chose the path of a sniper because he was hoping that meant he'd get to remain at a safe distance when participating in the war. Cezary developed a fear of heights after climbing up a set of ruins in the Barious Desert and falling off. He has a strong dislike of Darcsens.

Marina Wulfstan

Rank: Corporal

Birth Date: c.1911 (24 years old)

Unit Class: Sniper

Description: A woman with blue eyes and shoulder length black hair that covers her left eye.

Info: Marina is a beautiful hunter belonging to Squad 7 who always prefers to be alone. As the daughter of a hunter and former Great War sniper, Marina was trained in the art of hunting by her father ever since she was old enough to track an animal. As long as no one gets in her way or distracts her, very few people can outperform Marina with a firearm. For this reason and in order to always perform at her best, Marina prefers to be away from anyone and anything that might detract from her hunting. Marina proved her worth on the battlefield on more than one occasion. As one of the few Corporals, in Squad 7, how she obtained that rank is a mystery.

Oscar Bielert

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1920 (15 years old)

Unit Class: Sniper

Description: A young man with brown eyes and short brown hair that is straight up. He has a scar on the left side of his forehead in the shape of an 'x'.

Info: He enlisted in order to keep his sickly younger brother safe. The scar on his forehead tells of a childhood attempt to do the same. He tries to play the strong big brother to Emile, but he's actually quite timid. Terrified of thunder and mice, he always keeps his distance from the kitchen.

**Support Staff**

Fina Sellers

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1918 (17 years old)

Role: Medic

Description: A woman with green eyes and shoulder length blonde hair that is kept in place with a blue hair band.

Info: A medic assigned with treating Squad 7's wounded. Her kind heart and solid work ethic have made her equally popular with men and women. Fina is a quiet girl, though it is said that she used to be even quieter. She can usually be found hanging out with Vyse and Aika. She may seem rather delicate, but Fina has the agility and endurance necessary to run across a dangerous battlefield and aid those in need. Those who know her best say she's been through more than her fair share of battles. She is very handy with a rifle, and can be often seen fighting alongside her fellow 7's.

Leon Schmidt

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1915 (20 years old)

Role: Mechanic

Description: A young man with short brown hair and eyes who wears a pair of red googles. His uniform is that of a mechanics blue uniform.

Info: A mechanic working in the R&amp;D labs along with being assigned to work on Squad 7's equipment. Despite entering a secondary tech school with promising grades, his freewheeling nature soon prompted him to withdraw and wander Gallia until the war broke out. His insistence on testing everything he developed resulted in quality work and one instance of him accidentally driving a tank full-bore into a civilian home.

Kreis Czherny

Rank: Private

Birth Date: c.1915 (20 years old)

Role: Mechanic

Description: A young man with green eyes and hair. He wears a pair of red, square glasses along with his blue mechanics uniform.

Info: A mechanic working in the R&amp;D labs along with being assigned to work on Squad 7's equipment. Called to enlist while working a factory job in his hometown after middle school, he was initially so homesick he reports once attempting to go AWOL to return. The owner of a legendary sweet tooth, he adds three heaping tablespoons of sugar to his hot milk. Coworkers say he keeps chocolate hidden on him at all times.

* * *

"Wow, you weren't kidding. This is quite a colorful cast," noted Welkin, after finally reading through the last of the profiles.

"Isn't that what the Militia is supposed to be?" asked a distant voice. The four of them looked up to see a young man approach them. He was a young handsome man, twenty three years old, had brown eyes, well-kept brown hair, and wore a Lieutenants uniform similar to Welkin, but with a few differences. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, he didn't have a tank commander's cap, and he didn't have the strap that had the shots for a flare.

Welkin and Jack got up immediately as they recognized their friend. "Faldio, I had no idea you enlisted," said Welkin in surprise.

"Yeah, now that there's a real war going on, I figured that I'd join up," explained Faldio.

"Do you guys know each other?" asked Alicia, wondering how they were acquainted with each other.

As all three of them turned to Alicia, Jack introduced them all. "Alicia, this is Faldio Landzaat. Faldio, this is Alicia Melchiott, our new acquaintance from Bruhl and Squad 7's second-in-command," he said.

"Good to meet you," greeted Faldio. He then looked over to Isara and said "Nice to see you again kiddo."

"Likewise," she responded.

The three of them sat back down at the table. Welkin explained how they knew Faldio. The three of them knew each other from their days at the university. Faldio was studying to become an archaeologist. Jack commented how he was more Welkin's friend than his on the count that the two of them had known each other longer than he had. He also revealed that he was one of Welkin's friend that saved him from that pack of bullies that were beating them up. They then went about explaining how they had met Alicia and about the battle at Bruhl.

"So let me get this straight. You arrested them because you thought that they were spies?" asked Faldio, hardly believing what he had just heard.

Alicia blushed a little bit and began rubbing the back of her head before admitting "Yeah, pretty much."

"In her defense, we did a pretty good job of making her think that we were spies," admitted Welkin.

"Speak for yourself. She pointed a gun at my head. Twice," Jack pointed out.

"Hey, I said I was sorry," she noted to him.

"I know. I'm just messing with you," admitted Jack.

Faldio let out a light laugh before saying "You still have that dry sense of humor don't you Jack?"

"I wouldn't be much without it," he responded.

"So Faldio, you're a Lieutenant too?" asked Isara inquisitively.

"Yeah, pretty much all the officer-in-training boys are. I've been placed as the commander of Squad 1 of the 3rd Regiment," answered Faldio.

"So that means you answer to Captain Varrot as well," asked Welkin.

"Yeah. Oh, that reminds me. She wants all the squad leaders in the war room ASAP," he mentioned, just remembering that fact.

"Really, why?" asked Welkin.

"I think she's going to give us a briefing on our first mission. And if that's the case, we had better get going," he explained. The two of them then got up from their seats.

"You guys going to be alright?" asked Welkin.

"Yeah, we'll be fine. Meet us in the hanger. I'll rally up Squad 7 and have you meet us there when you're done," assured Jack.

And with that, Welkin and Faldio left the rec room on their way to Captain Varrot's office.

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	9. The War Meeting

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Meanwhile, In New Berlin_

Inside of the War Room of the Imperial Palace, sat Byzantium and several of his most important commanders. The room was simply an old ballroom that they had converted to their use. The sunlight coming from the massive windows helped bring light into the room. In the center of the room sat a large, rectangular table surrounded by over two dozen chairs. The number of chairs that would be filled was dependent on how important the meeting was. In this meeting there was only about ten people.

Byzantium sat at the head of the table, in the largest and most elaborate chair. He was covered in his armor that he had worn when he made his speech a month earlier. The only difference was that he was wearing a small red amulet around his neck. Situated behind him were two _SS_ soldiers clad in their distinctive black uniforms and armed with Luger pistols. Flanking him on his left was Joseph Goebbels, and on the right was Heinrich Himmler. Goebbels was wearing a brown G_estapo_ uniform with a rad armband that held the Nazi swastika. He had taken his officers cap off which showed his combed back brown hair. Himmler wore the same black uniform of the _SS_ but it seemed more elaborate and formal. He eyed the room with his cold, icy stare through his glasses.

Seated next to Himmler were the main commanders of the Reich's Armed Forces. Grand Marshal Erwin Rommel, Commander-in-Che if of the entire _Wehrmacht_, sat directly next to Himmler followed by Field Marshal Baron von Richthofen, head of the _Luftwaffe_, and Grand Admiral Karl Donitz, head of the _Kriegsmarine_. Each of them were wearing their respective uniforms.

Finally, on Goebbels side of the table sat members of Byzantium's family along with some of their Knights and staff members. First sat Cornelia and her Knight Guilford. Cornelia was a beautiful woman about 27 years old. She had indigo hair which was the same color as her eyes. Her uniform was maroon colored with gold trimmings. She also wore white gloves, boots, and an elaborate white cape. She had a Luger pistol and a rapier attached to her belt. She was the commander of the 3rd Army, a veteran unit that had seen many battles. Currently, they were deployed on their eastern border to guard against a Soviet incursion.

Guilford was a year younger than Cornelia, and had served her as her Knight since she was eighteen years old. He is a slender, black haired, and bespectacled man. His uniform was similar to Cornelia's except that he wore white pants, along with black gloves and boots. He also wore a cutlass sword on his right hip along with a Luger pistol tucked inside of a holster on his left hip. During Cornelia's campaigns he would often serve her as her second-in-command.

Then came Lightning, Lelouch's Knight. She was nineteen years old, had aqua blue eyes and short wavy rose pink hair with a few locks on her left side that reached just below her shoulder. True to her Knight status, she wore a set of silver armor with gold trimmings. She wore armor that covered her chest with a golden Fleur-de-lis, the top half of her back, shoulders, most of her legs, boots, her hips, and the top portion of her hands and forearms. She also wore a type of black, skin tight clothing that covered the rest of her body from the lower torso down that was not already covered by the armor. She also wore it on her arms that stretched from her hands to the middle of her upper arms. Finally, she wore a type of white cloak that began from her waist and draped down towards the top of her boots, covering only the back and sides of her legs. Her appearance was striking. And if one would describe her they would say that she looked beautiful, tough, and probably pretty sexy.

Lastly sat Colonel Alexander Isaac, Lelouch's second-in-command. He is a nineteen year old man that has served with the prince for over three years. He had short brown hair and eyes, and was one of the youngest people to ever reach the rank of Colonel in the German military. He also served Lelouch as one of the commanders of the Black Knights. He had a uniform similar to what other high ranking officers in the military were wearing, but with a few minor changes. The armband that he wore was not that of the Nazi military, but Lelouch's banner. It had three horizontal lines that were from top to bottom: black, white, and finally red. Displayed on it was what looked to be a black eagle with Lelouch's coat-of-arms with they symbol of the Black Knights shown on both sides of the coat of arms.

This symbol was infamous in its relation with the Black Knights. The Black Knights served Lelouch as his own private military, completely independent of the main German forces. They were about three hundred and fifty thousand strong and answered only to Lelouch. He had formed them when he entered the military at the age of 14. Even before that he was already well known within the nation.

Before the war against Gallia started, Germania had been engaged in a series of small battles along their borders since the end of the Great War called throughout Europa "The Border Skirmishes". These small battles gave them valuable combat experience as well as giving their troops experience in the field. It was fought between Germania the other three powers in Europa. These nations were the Soviet Union, the Atlantic Federation, and the Balkan Confederacy. Each of them were a series of alliances between nations, united only by their common goal of defeating Germania.

The Atlantic Federation were made up of loosely allied nations west of Germania such as England, France, and their vast colonial empires. They were created in order to try and rein in Germania's actions. The Soviet Union was formed out of the Old Russian Empire after the Great War had ended. It was founded on Communist principles of equality but in fact it was another totalitarian government. Its only purpose was to spread Communism which tended to put it into conflict with the Reich the most often. The Balkan Confederacy was another alliance of nations. They were probably the weakest out of all the major powers. They were formed to preserve the independence of the people who lived in the Balkan peninsula of Europe.

Lelouch's first efforts as a commander was to defend Germania's borders from their incursions. In the three years of border skirmishes, he fought in over thirty-six skirmishes, and was victorious in every single one of them. The man was claimed to be a strategic mastermind and a tactical genius. In fact several claimed that he could give men like Sun Tzu and Napoleon a run for their money.

The 'Black Prince' alias came from how he entered battle. He preferred to fight on the front lines with his men, not hide in a bunker miles away. He would drive at the head of his forces in a customized Tiger tank, painted black with white markings. That, along with his black uniform helped gave him the alias 'The Black Prince' among his troops, and 'The Demon of Germania' to his enemies.

Despite his growing importance to the military, he had no interest of attending this meeting. Instead he asked his two close friends and subordinates to attend the meeting in his place. He needed them to attend the meeting while he could attend to some personal matters.

Draped over the table was a large map of Gallia, along with several other smaller maps, displaying the current situation of the war. From what could be seen, the situation seemed very good. They had conquered the entire north, most of the south, and were pushing through the center towards the capital city. It appeared that the war with Gallia was all but won.

Maximillian stood on the opposite side of the table. He was explaining the current situation to the military council. He was 29 years old, had short, curly blond hair, blue eyes, and wore a gold color crown that was shaped like a wreath. He dressed in a white regal outfit with gold markings, along with a cape that was white on the outside and blood red on the inside.

Standing right behind him was his Knight and loyal companion, Selvaria Bles. She was 22 years old, had long silver hair that reached to her waist, and cold red eyes. She wore a uniform that was completely black. She had a small black skirt, skintight black pants and black leather boots, each with an elaborate red and gold trimmings. She wore a sword that was attached to her golden belt. She had also a small black cape which covered her bare shoulders and back and reached down to her waist. Finally, she wore a pair of black gloves along with sleeves that covered her arms from her wrists just before her shoulders, leaving them uncovered.

"As you can see, the Gallian forces are in complete disarray. Within almost one month, our forces have overwhelmed them. Soon our forces will march through the gates of Randgriz. Signaling our dominion over the nation once more," proclaimed Maximillian as he explained the current situation.

Byzantium surveyed the maps, and a small smile began to appear on his face. The operation was going very well, just as Maximillian had promised. He would be happier once this war was over and they could move on to more pressing matters.

Despite Gallia's bounty of resources, Byzantium never paid much attention to it. He was more worried about the other powers threatening their borders. He would be more satisfied conquering them than some small nation along the coast. But Maximillian convinced him that he could claim the country in a month, securing vital resources before the other powers could act. That was the only reason that he was supporting this invasion in the first place. He didn't think that it could be done, and yet here they were, on the verge of victory.

"I must admit Maximillian, I am impressed. When you first told me about the prospect of invading Gallia, I thought that you were insane. But now, it seems that I was wrong," admitted Byzantium.

"I promised you victory brother. And victory is what I shall deliver," assured Maximillian.

"Just how do you plan to take Randgriz exactly?" asked Cornelia.

Maximillian pointed to a town located on the map. It was situated northward on the same river that Randgriz was located. "Our forces have recently seized the key town of Vasel. With it secured we now have a straight road to the capital," he explained.

"Will your Valkyrian friend here led the effort to capture Randgriz herself?" questioned Baron Richthofen.

Nazi High Command knew all about his bodyguard. Selvaria was a descendant of the Valkyrur. A race of powerful warriors who defeated the Darcsens about five thousand years ago. Renowned for their powers and skill in battle, much of them had died out, with very few surviving to this day. Selvaria was perhaps, one of the last of her kind.

"No, the Gallians will be defeated before then," he replied just as she was about to say something.

"I do however see a small dilemma to your plans," pointed out Rommel. "There appears to be a large element of the Gallian Militia located near the capital. If they mobilize, they may be able to drive you out of Vasel," he explained.

"We have already expected this, so we have deployed extra forces to the city to hold it before the main force arrives," he corrected.

"You had better not fail Maximillian. I've risked a lot by supporting your invasion. And remember, I expect Gallia's surrender by the fifteenth. No later. Do not disappoint me," warned Byzantium.

"I won't. You have my word," he assured.

"Very well then. This meeting is adjourned," announced Byzantium.

Everyone then made their way out of the war room except for Byzantium, Goebbels, and Himmler, who stayed to discuss further business. Maximillian and Selvaria left for their transport that was to take them back to the front. Lightning and Alexander were standing in one of the halls, watching through the window as the two of them entered the staff car and drove away.

"So it looks like there's nothing more we can do," commented Alexander.

"It appears so," replied Lightning.

Earlier they had tried to smuggle Lelouch across the border to try and warn the Gallians about the invasion. However, they were blocked as Maximillian had taken control over the entire area of Germania that bordered Gallia. So they had to abandon their plan and simply watch what would happen. Thankfully they managed to make sure that their unauthorized visit didn't make it to the Emperor, otherwise they didn't want to know what he would have done to them.

"There you two are," they heard someone call to them from down the hall. They turned to see Cornelia and her Knight Guilford approaching them. When they met up Alexander asked her formally "What is it that you require your majesty?"

Cornelia asked plainly "Have you seen Lelouch? I thought he was supposed to be at this meeting,"

"Why do I feel like every time I talk to you it's always about you worrying about your little brother's safety?" asked Alexander.

"I'm just… I just hope that he's okay. After what happened with his mother and our father I…," explained Cornelia as she began to turn her head away from the group when a painful memory of the past began to resurface.

Alexander and Lightning knew what she was talking about. When Kaiserina Marianne, Lelouch's mother was alive, Cornelia was in charge of the Royal Guard detachment that was responsible for protecting her along with Kaiser Charles. She joined the Guard because growing up she idolized Marianne.

Before Marianne became the Kaiserina, she was a commoner who enlisted into the military as an officer and served in the army during the Great War. She was responsible for many of Germania's greatest victories during that conflict. This caused her to become something of a folk hero to many people, including Cornelia. Though she wouldn't admit it to anyone, she joined the military because of how much she admired Marianne.

And the surprise to her was even more incredible when Marianne married Cornelia's father, became Kaiserina, and gave birth to her two children Lelouch and Nunnally. She was incredibly honored when Marianne asked her to become the new head of the Royal Guard. She took her new job very seriously, making sure that they were safe at all times. Until that day seven years ago.

One night during a royal ball, Marianne asked Cornelia to run the security for the event. Cornelia conducted a set of security protocols that the guards would maintain for the event. She was convinced that her defenses for the ball was foolproof. But soon, that belief was shattered as unknown terrorists began firing through the windows from a distance. After the firing had past, she looked on to see both the Kaiser and the Kaiserina had been killed in the attack, with both sustaining multiple gunshot wounds.

Cornelia was utterly devastated by what had happened. Her father and the woman she admired were just murdered, and one of her siblings had been blinded and crippled in the attack. She was even more hurt when Lelouch blamed her for not being able to protect his family. This caused a rift between the two siblings which has lasted over seven years later. But even though things were tense between the two, Cornelia couldn't stop worrying about her little brother's safety.

"Stop blaming yourself. It wasn't your fault for what happened to them," said Lightning trying to assure her.

"She's right Cornelia, you place too much blame on yourself," supported Guilford.

"I know that, it just that things have never been right with Lelouch and me since that day. He still blames me for what happened. I wonder if he's ever going to forgive me at all," muttered Cornelia, with sadness still in her voice.

"Maybe you can come over by the Aries villa. Lelouch is holding a small gathering for lunch three days from now. I can try to convince him to let you come by. It might give you two a chance to smooth things out," suggested Lightning, having just remembering about the event.

"It's been seven years. This just might be what you need to help let go," said Guilford, supporting the idea.

Cornelia thought about the idea. The Ares Villa was a private retreat in the Bavarian mountains. It was once Kaiserina Marianne's personal retreat, but now Lelouch had converted it into a home for him and his wife along with making it his military headquarters. If Lelouch was holding a gathering there, maybe she should go. This rift between the two of them had been eating away at her for years. Perhaps this was her one and only chance to try and reconcile things between the two of them. At least this way they could at least start talking to each other again.

Cornelia then looked back to Alexander and responded "Alright, I'll go."

Lightning and Jack began to walk away before Cornelia stopped them and asked further "Who else is going to be there?"

"Us, some of Lelouch's friends, Schneizel, Odysseus, Clovis, Euphie, Nunnally, Rolo, a few military officers, a few other people, and finally um…" explained Alexander, keeping track of the number of people by counting his fingers while trying to remember the final person that was invited.

"You forgot Kallen," mentioned Lightning, reminding him of the last of the guests.

"Oh right, she'll be there too," said Alexander, correcting himself.

Cornelia let out a small smile upon hearing her name. Kallen Stadtfeld was the daughter of Earl Stadtfeld, a prominent noble who owned a large company that supplied weapons to the military. She and Lelouch met at a young age when her father brought her to one of the royal balls. The two of them immediately took a liking to each other. Cornelia had stated after the event that she was Lelouch's 'first crush'. Kallen and Lelouch maintained a close friendship between the years, eventually turning into a romantic relationship when they were in their mid-teens.

When they were dating, the two acquired the attention of tabloids and became the hot topic for gossip. Lelouch was already popular with the people when they started dating. And Kallen's personality helped extend that popularity to her as well. The public was always attracted to celebrities, as was their nature. And the fact that the young prince had found love attracted their attention.

Another thing that seemed to attract the public to them was the fact that Kallen was also a military cadet at the officer's academy in Berlin. She had entered into the academy as it was customary for the child of an Earl to enter military service. She quickly advanced through the ranks of the academy. On her graduation day she was given the rank of Captain and transferred into the Black Knights at Lelouch's suggestion. That day was remembered by the public because of a kiss between the couple on that day that made the front page of every newspaper from Aachen to Kiev.

When they had both reached the appropriate age, Lelouch proposed to Kallen on Christmas day. The two were married a week later in an elaborate ceremony on New Year's Day. Upon their wedding Kallen changed her name to Lelouch's surname as she was now a member of the royal family. Cornelia, along with her other siblings attended the wedding, even shedding a tear when the two officially became husband and wife. She later told Guilford that she was happy that Lelouch had found someone that made him happy. After then she had come to accept Kallen as a wonderful sister-in-law and a great addition to their family.

"Alright then. I'll see the two of you at the villa," said Cornelia as she and Guilford left them. Once they confirmed that the two of them were out of sight, Alexander asked Lightning "How long do you think we have?"

Lightning looked at Alexander and smiled at him. She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered to him seductively "I don't know. Ten, maybe fifteen minutes." They two of them soon pressed their lips together and began to share a passionate kiss.

Alexander had taken a liking to Lightning when she became Lelouch's Knight two years ago. He revealed his feelings to her about six months after that day. He had wanted to get his feelings about her off of his chest. But what he didn't expect Lightning to tell him that she felt the same way about him.

The two of them then began a romantic relationship that they kept secret from other people. This was because they were afraid of the backlash that would happen if the news broke out. It was improper in German high society for a Knight and a military commander to be involved romantically. And some of the blame would be placed upon Lelouch for not knowing about it. So they kept it a secret as to both protect themselves and protect their friend. But as their relationship began to develop further, it became harder for them to keep the secret from Lelouch.

As they slowly ended the kiss Alexander said "I don't know much longer we can keep this under wraps."

"I know. It's getting harder every day," she confirmed.

Alexander thought for a few seconds before suggesting "Maybe it's time we told Lelouch and Kallen about us."

Lightning's eyes widened in surprise. When they first started dating, Alexander was the one who suggested that they keep it a secret. Now here he was saying that they should admit to their friends that they were lovers. But sadly, she agreed with what he was saying. Now was the time to admit what they've been hiding.

"When should we tell them," she asked.

"During the party at the villa. We'll get them alone and admit the truth," he explained.

* * *

_Back at Fort Amaranthine_

Varrot had gathered the squad leaders of her regiment into the war room for a briefing on their first operation. The squad leaders, including Welkin and Faldio were standing around a large square table where Varrot was explaining the war situation using the map below.

"I'm not going to lie to you. Our situation is grim. The Reich has advanced deep into Gallia, and we are facing defeat on all fronts. The Army has spent the last month falling retreating under the Nazi's brutal offensive. As such, we've had to call upon more and more of our reserves in both the Regular Army and in the Militia. Currently we have over five hundred and fifty thousand Regulars and Militia against over one and a half million German soldiers which means in our current situation we are outnumbered 3 to 1. And to make matters worse, as of yesterday the Germans seized the town of Vasel," she explained.

"Vasel, ma'am?" asked one of the squad leaders, clearly never hearing the name until now.

"It's a strategic city placed northward on the same river that Randgriz sits beside. It has a massive bridge that runs across the river," explained Faldio.

"That's correct. The city also connects the main transit hub which runs directly to Randgriz. Now that the Germans have the city, they have a straight shot towards the capital. If that happens, then the war is lost," explained Varrot further.

"So I'm guessing the Militia's first job is to retake Vasel before the Germans make their move?" asked Welkin.

"That's correct Lieutenant. We'll be cooperating with the army's Vasel Battalion. We'll launch the operation at 0600 hours tomorrow morning," answered Varrot.

The group then heard the door opening and turned to see who was entering. There they saw a stout fifty-four year old man enter the room with two Regular soldiers armed with pistols. The man had a waxed mustache and a well-trimmed beard which signaled that he was of noble birth. He was dressed in a General's uniform, with several medals adorned on his chest, a fancy golden sash, and an officer's hat with a small feathered plume on the top of it.

"How quaint, the Militia holding a little strategy meeting of its own. How long were you planning on hiding out in here Varrot?" he asked.

Varrot gave him a quick salute before addressing him "General Damon, we were just finishing. I'll have my squads prepare to move out."

"Whatever. They're just country mice. It's not like they'll be of much help anyway," he remarked.

As the Militia officers exited from the room, Welkin stopped Faldio just outside the room and asked him "Who was that guy?"

"General Georg von Damon, commander of the Central Gallian Army," answered Faldio.

"Isn't that the same army that the Militia was folded into?" he mentioned.

"Yeah, they say the General is an aristocrat. He looks down on the common Militia," explained Faldio.

That didn't surprise Welkin. The officers in the Gallian High Command was made out of people of high class and upbringing such as upper class citizens and nobles. And due to their aristocratic ways, they tend to view themselves as superior to the Militia and treat them with disdain. They see the Militia as nothing more than cannon fodder and would often send them on suicide missions while the army took all the credit.

Faldio let out a scoff and said "I don't get it. Now that the war's on we all have to band together to defend Gallia and keep her safe. Who cares at this point whether you're in the Regular Army of the Militia? It's ridiculous!"

"Regardless right now we need to focus on taking back Vasel," reminded Welkin.

Faldio let out a light sigh before admitting "Yeah, you're right. Let's get going then. I'll head back to my squad while you get introduced to yours."

And with that, the two went their separate ways as they prepared for the upcoming battle.

* * *

**(Some info for this chapter. Lelouch's standard (meaning flag) for the Black Knights is that of Imperial Germany and the symbol present on their officers hats, field caps, and helmets is that of the Black Knights in the anime. It's also what I'm using for the thumbnail picture of my story. It's also the Lightning dresses as she does in Final Fantasy XIII-2. And Byzantium dresses like the Inquisitor form the Dragon Age Inquisition trailers.)**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	10. Onward to Vasel

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_April 15, 1935 _

_0530 (5:30 am)_

Welkin entered the vehicle hanger in the early hours of the morning to finally meet the men and women whom he would be leading for the first time. He was feeling a little tired since he had to wake up early for this mission, but this is what came with the army. The hanger was massive, containing several vehicles and tanks in an open lot. Welkin could see the _Edelweiss _in one of the far corners. It had all of the upgrades attached to it like Isara mentioned along with several large bags of gear placed on the rear. He could see the armored skirts, the reinforced barrel, and the .50 caliber machine gun connected on a swivel system that is attached to the turret hatch.

The .50 caliber machine guns that the Gallian military used were American models. They called it the Browning M2 heavy machine gun. The large caliber of the gun was enough to tackle infantry along with lightly armored vehicles and fortifications. No doubt that this will come in handy in the future.

Welkin saw Jack, Alicia, and Isara standing together, as if waiting for his arrival. Alicia carried her rifle while Jack had a BAR light machine gun strapped over his shoulder. The BAR or Browning Automatic Rifle, was another thing that the United States had given to the Gallian military. It was larger than the rifles, and held twenty .30 caliber rounds. This gun would help boost the Squad's firepower in their engagements with enemy infantry.

As he took one last look around, he could see that the rest of the squad was scattered throughout the hanger, engaging other members in conversation. They appeared in front of him in full combat gear, with their armored plating, weapons, and uniforms. But no helmets.

The Gallian standard issued helmet was the same model that the German's used. To distinguish theirs from the enemies they painted it blue and with a white stripe that ran from the front, across the top, and then all the way to the back. These were only issued to the soldiers in the Regular Army. The Militia weren't given these helmets, mainly due to the fact that the Regular's believed that the Militia, being mostly a large group of inexperienced recruits, were not fit to have helmets. This meant that the Militia had to make up for it however they could. For example the helmet Jack had was the one that he used during his days in the U.S. Army. He just repainted it with Gallian colors.

When Alicia saw Welkin enter the room, she turned to the rest of the squad and announced loud enough to hear "Attention! Form up, the Lieutenant is here!" Upon hearing those words the squad formed up in two long lines. They were standing at attention and had their weapons shouldered using the straps that were attached to their weapons. True to their nature each of the squad members had the weapons that were given to them according to their unit classes.

The Scouts and Engineers were armed with their standard issued semi-automatic rifle called the Gallian-M4. It was named that in honor of being one of the few domestically produced rifles the nation made. It came into service shortly after the Great War ended. Its design was somewhat similar to the German's Gewehr 43. It even used the same 7.92mm ammunition. But the weapon had a few differences. It was shorter than the Gewehr by about a few inches, and its magazine held only five rounds compared to the Gewehr's ten round magazine. However, it was cheap to manufacture, reliable, accurate, and performed similar in battle giving it some advantages.

The Shocktroopers were given the Mags-M4 sub-machine gun. The Mags was another product of the Great War as well as being designed similar to one of the German's weapons, this one being the Stg44 assault rifle. It featured a box shaped magazine that held twenty .45 rounds, the same caliber used in Jack's pistols. In addition, the weapon had no butt stock. Having no butt stock made the weapon a little hard to control in full auto mode. But like its German counterpart, it's accurate, reliable, and easy to produce.

The Snipers were given the GSR-M4 bolt-action sniper rifle. It served Gallia as its main infantry weapon during the Great War. It was phased out of mass production when the Gallian rifle came into service. But it was still used by the Snipers as their weapon of choice. It was modeled after the British Lee-Enfield rifle. The weapon featured a telescopic sight and a magazine that held ten 7.92mm rounds.

Finally, the Lancers were equipped with the Lancaar-M4 anti-tank lance. The weapon was shaped somewhat like a medieval lance. The warhead made up the tip of the lance. The wielder held the weapon at hip level with a small handle while using a small lever located near the rear of the weapon to launch the warhead. It was also one of the few weapons capable of taking out a German Panzer with a hit to its frontal armor.

Welkin stood in front of his squad and began to introduce himself. "My name is Lieutenant Welkin Gunther. As of today, you're all part of Squad 7. I consider it an honor to serve with each and every one of you. We'll have to cut introductions short because in half an hour we'll be starting our first operation."

He then went on to describe their first mission. "Two days ago, the Germans captured the strategic city of Vasel. Our mission is take it back. We'll be cooperating with the Regular Army's Vasel Battalion on this one. I won't lie to you, this won't be easy. The enemy will know that we're coming and they're likely to have reinforced their defenses in the city. This will be hard, but not impossible. If we work together, we will succeed. We leave at 0600, until then gather your remaining gear and rally at the gate. Understood?"

Welkin's question was meet by the squad shouting unanimously and in sync "Sir yes Sir!"

"Alright then. Everyone, you're dismissed," finished Welkin as the squad dispersed to gather their remaining equipment.

As the two of them finished grabbing their gear, Largo and Rosie exchanged a glimpse at their new commander now talking to Alicia and Jack. They couldn't believe that this was their new commander. The kid looked like he was barely out of school. They heard that he had managed to halt a German company near Bruhl, but they thought that he would at least be a little older than that. That's just what they would have expected from the son of the great General Gunther.

"That's our boss?" remarked Rosie in disbelief "He's greener than grass. And now we're supposed to take orders from him?" she scoffed.

"No kidding. And the way he gave that speech, I've heard it all before," added Largo with some disdain in his voice.

Rosie turned to him and asked curiously "Really? When was that?"

"During the Great War, there were a lot of officers like him. They were young, idealistic. They had this romantic notion that war would be some kind of adventure. Then reality began to sink in, and hard. They began to crack under the strain, mentally and physically, started to make mistakes. Got everyone under their command killed along with themselves in the process," he explained.

Rosie let out a light scoff before commenting "The same goes for the two others with him. Know anything about them?"

"The girl's name is Alicia I think. Fought with him at Bruhl same as the other guy," he explained "The other one's name is Jack. From what I've heard he's an American."

Rosie looked back at him with surprise. She then sarcastically said "A Yankee? What, did they decide to actually send in their all-powerful army this time to help?" Rosie was well aware along with many others that the Gallian military they were receiving aid from the United States. They were being given weapons, vehicles, medical supplies, ammunition, and other things. But what she found annoying was like during the Great War they neglected to send their army, leaving the Gallians to fend for themselves.

Largo shook his head before explaining "No. From what I hear he's a volunteer like us. He was here when the krauts invaded and volunteered a few days later. I asked around for some info on him. Turns out this isn't his first war."

"How? He doesn't look like he's any older than 18," asked Rosie. She didn't believe what Largo just mentioned. How could a kid that young have any prior experience in war?

"Remember that war between the Soviets and the Yanks? The one that was all over the news. Apparently, when the war started he lied his way into the army. Served throughout the entire war," he pointed out.

"Experienced or not, I don't trust that Yankee one bit," stated Rosie.

"Same here," acknowledged Largo.

* * *

_Fort Amaranthine courtyard_

_0550 hours (5:50 am)_

Squad 7 had gathered at the front gate of Fort Amaranthine. Being so early in the morning, it was still dark outside with the sun just barely coming over the horizon. They were joined by a company from the Regular Army, which had about 150 soldiers, who would be assisting them. Like Squad 7, the Regulars were in full combat gear and armor, and had all their weapons ready. The other Militia Squads 1 through 6 had already left for Vasel. They would be using the side roads to reach the city since the German presence on the main road was greater. Everyone knew that the Germans have eyes on the main road, and if they saw any major group of Gallian forces traveling on that road they would simply send their Stuka dive-bombers to devastate them. So in order for them to avoid any major conflict they had to use the side roads. They already knew that the Germans occupied Vasel, so they had to have some troops on those side roads, guarding them. They would have to get past them before they would reach Vasel.

Squad 7 had several trucks which would be used to help transport their troops towards Vasel. They along with the _Edelweiss_ would make up the rear of the convoy, following the Regulars form behind. The Regulars had trucks as well. Twice as many to be specific. None of the trucks had any canvas covering over the back where the soldiers would be sitting so the soldiers would be somewhat exposed to enemy fire. In addition they had five American supplied half-tracks. Half-tracks were armored trucks that had wheels on the front while they had tank treads in the rear, hence the name. These were used to transport troops in places where trucks couldn't travel. For defensive purposes they were armed with .50 caliber machine gun placed above where the driver and passenger would be as well as a smaller .30 caliber machine gun to help defend the rear. Each of the half-tracks had a small 37mm anti-tank artillery piece connected to the rear. These guns were to be set up as stationary defenses against incoming tank attacks.

In terms of tank support they had half a dozen Gallian light tanks along with two Gallian tank destroyers. The Gallian tank destroyer was modeled after its German counterpart: the Hetzer tank destroyer. What made a tank destroyer different from other tanks was that it didn't have a turret to house the main gun. So the gun was instead placed on a fixed position in the hull that was sloped on all sides in order to improve its protection against German Panzers. It was armed with a long barreled 75mm cannon as well as a hull mounted machine gun to defend against infantry attacks. Its main gun had the power to knock out German Panzers. But even with its sloped armor, the tank could be destroyed from a single hit from a German tank. The Gallians didn't have many of these tank destroyers so they had to use them sparingly.

Finally there was an army jeep that the Regular's commander would be riding at the front of the column. She would sit in the passenger seat while two others drove the jeep and manned the .30 caliber machine gun placed at the rear.

As Squad 7 began to take their place at the rear of the column. They managed to catch a glimpse of the Regular's officer. Her name is Mary Read. She's the same age as Welkin and holds the rank of Lieutenant, same as him. Her long blonde hair was tied into a ponytail to keep it from covering up her blue eyes. She came dressed in a full officer's uniform along with an officer's cap. Strapped to her hip was a Colt 1911 that she kept with her at all times. Mary came from a military family among the nobles. So it was expected of her to join the Regulars as well. She had attended Lanseal Royal Military Academy, the finest military school in Gallia, and graduated at the top of her class. She was then given command of a full company when she finally joined.

As she walked by Squad 7 she took one look at them and continued to walk away with a look of disgust on her face. Jack who was talking to Alicia and Isara next to the _Edelweiss_, noticed her reaction to them and asked "What's her problem?"

"The same as everyone else in the Regular's. Their aristocratic upbringing means they think of us as being at the bottom of the military food chain," responded Alicia.

"They certainly are more uptight than the Militia," pointed out Jack.

"And more picky too. I don't think they have a single Darcsen in their ranks," added Isara.

"I'd be surprised if they actually had any," admitted Jack.

Suddenly they heard Welkin, who was standing from the turret hatch announce "Alright, everyone get to your vehicles. We're getting ready to move out."

The members of Squad 7 then began to make their way towards the trucks that were idling behind the _Edelweiss_. Most of them would be in the trucks while Alicia, Jack, Largo, and Rosie would be riding on top of the Edelweiss.

As Isara was about to climb into the tank. Rosie grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to face her. "Whoa, where do you think you're going?" she asked.

Alicia, who was already on the tank, noticed what was going on and explained to Rosie "She's the tank driver. She's supposed to be here."

Rosie shot a look at Alicia before exclaiming "Do you really think I'm going to trust a dark-hair with driving this thing?"

Upon hearing the insult Rosie just said to Isara, Jack decided to get involved. "Shut it, Stark. That's an order," he said sternly.

Rosie couldn't believe this kid was ordering her around. She didn't want to have to listen to it. But she had no choice. Despite the two of them being the same rank, Jack was the quartermaster which meant that he held seniority among the Corporals. Which meant after Welkin, Alicia, and Largo, he was considered the fourth-in-command. This meant that he surpassed her along with most of the squad in authority.

With a begrudging look on her face, she let go of Isara and let her get inside the tank. She then proceeded to join the others on top of the _Edelweiss_. When they were all situated, they could barely hear Read shout from the front of the convoy "Open the gates! We're moving out!"

As if on cue the large front gates opened up and the convoy began to move out in a single filed fashion. Read's jeep went first followed by the tank destroyers and light tanks. Then came the half-tracks with the anti-tank guns in tow along with the trucks. Finally, in the rear came the _Edelweiss_ and the trucks carrying Squad 7.

When they had passed the gates, Jack got himself situated and tilted his helmet down to cover his eyes. Largo noticed his relaxed posture and asked "What are you doing?"

Jack replied while not moving a single muscle "Catching up on some sleep. We got a long while until we reach Vasel."

* * *

_On the Road to Vasel _

_0800 hours (8:00 am)_

The armored column was making headway on its trip to Vasel. They moved through the winding roads, bridges, and occasional puddles without any incident. They were now within 10 miles from the city. Currently they were driving on a dirt road. All around them were open fields with a few scattered farms. They were also some creeks, large rocks and bushes scattered around them as well. So far the convoy hadn't come into any contact with Nazi forces.

Read noticed their situation and smiled to herself. Seeing his commanding officer in a good mood, the driver asked her "Something on your mind ma'am?"

She simply crossed her arms behind her head in a relaxing position before answering confidently "So much for 'supposed resistance'. This is a breeze. If Vasel is anything like this drive, then we'll have the war over by the end of this month."

But the feeling wasn't mutual with the Militia. They felt like something was off. The report said that the Germans had set up a defensive position at least ten miles out of Vasel. Yet here they were approaching that supposed defensive position, and there were no Germans in sight.

Jack was aware of this and was looking left and right, searching for any sign of the enemy. He had his BAR out with his twitchy finger near the trigger.

"Are you always this antsy when you're heading to the front?" commented Largo.

Jack looked back at him and replied "Only when I know somethings off. Shouldn't we have run into some kraut resistance by now?"

"That's what the Captain said," chimed Welkin.

Suddenly the whole convoy came to a sudden halt. The sudden halt made Jack lose balance and almost let him fall of the tank before Alicia grabbed him. When he finally got back on the tank, Rosie looked to Welkin and asked "Why the hell are we stopping?"

"I don't know," said Welkin as he took out his binoculars. "Looks like we're stopping in front of a small farm," he explained.

"A farm?" asked Rosie in surprise.

Welkin took a look through his binoculars. The farm was situated right on the road, below them since they were looking at it from atop a hill. It was at least 500 yards from the bottom of the hill. It had a small house for a farmer as well as a barn, a silo, along with several other small buildings. Flanking it on both sides were tall and large fields of wheat. There appeared to be a series of sandbags, trenches, and barbed wire set up around the place, indicating that a military force was once there. A flagpole set up in the middle of the farm flew the Nazi Reich's flag. Put the interesting part was that there was no one to be seen. The whole place looked deserted.

"Doesn't look like anyone's there, so why are we stopping?" asked Largo. His answer came when Welkin's radio headset came to life. Lieutenant Read was transmitting orders to him from her position up front.

After hearing her orders, he looked to the others behind them and explained "Alright. Read is taking her company to scout out the farm. We're to remain put until she's checked it for enemies."

"So we just sit here and do nothing while the Army gets the credit?" asked Rosie.

"Looks like it," mentioned Largo.

"I bet you she's walking right into a trap," joked Jack.

They looked ahead to see that the Regulars had already begun to move out. Read took her jeep, the light tanks, and over 100 of her soldiers with her. The tanks were moving in a horizontal line with some space between each of them. Read put her jeep in the front of the group, directing actions from the front. All around the vehicles, Regulars were spread out around them, weapons drawn. She left the tank destroyers along with the half-tracks, anti-tank guns, and fifty soldiers with the Militia.

As they grew closer, Read looked to her men and ordered "Let's check this place out them move on to Vasel." The soldiers just continued to inch closer, moving cautiously towards the farmstead. Read paid no attention. There weren't any enemies in this camp so she saw little reason to be afraid. She thought that they would be back on their way to Vasel in a few minutes.

That belief was soon shattered. The barn whose doors were facing directly at them suddenly flew open, revealing a German Flak 88 anti-tank cannon, with its crew right there and ready to fire.

Her eyes flew open as she realized that they had walked into a trap. Before she could say anything, the main gunner and the Flak 88 shouted "Fire!" and with a mighty boom and flash, it fired it's shot.

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	11. Squad 7 To The Rescue

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

The Flak 88 fired its shot, which moved swiftly though the air. It struck one of the tanks in the center of the line, destroying it with a fiery explosion. Right after the tank exploded, Nazis jumped out of hiding from the buildings, trenches, and from the wheat fields. They began to pepper the Regulars with small arms fire.

The Regulars scrambled as they tried to mount some sort of defense. But the ferocity and surprise of the German attack caught them off guard and many Regulars were cut down in the opening moments. And to add to their problems, two German Tiger tanks came from the wheat fields. One from the left and from the right, along with a squad of infantry for each. The Tiger tanks were in perfect position to flank the Regulars.

The Tiger tank was the smaller version of the King Tiger, but that didn't mean it was any less dangerous. Its hull was somewhat box shaped, had a tan paint job, and its armor was thick. The Gallian light tanks could only penetrate it if they fired at point blank range. Its turret housed a long barreled 88mm cannon, the same gun that the Flak 88 uses. This makes it capable of hitting tanks at long range, and able to take them out with a single shot. It also had two MG42 machine guns, one mounted in the hull and one in a coaxial position.

The Flak 88 anti-tank gun was originally designed as an anti-aircraft gun. It performed well in its role, shooting down many enemy aircraft. However during an incident during the Great War, they realized that it was also an equally effective anti-tank cannon. With its 88mm barrel, it could penetrate all but the toughest armor. The Nazis then decided to use these weapons in dual roles in order to take out both aircraft and tanks combined.

The Flak 88 fired another shot along with a shot from each of the two Tiger tanks. The thorough and hard training of the German Panzer crews paid off as each of these shots accurately hit their targets, destroying another three Gallian tanks.

Read was taking cover behind one of the ruins of her tanks. She and several other Regulars were taking potshots at the German infantry while trying to avoid machine gun fire from the Tiger tanks. Mary fired a few shots from her pistol at a German soldier. One of the shots must have hit him because he soon fell backwards onto the ground. She then ducked back into cover to reload her pistol. After she had finished, she sat on the ground, leaning against the tank. She took a quick look at her surroundings.

All around her, her men were trying to hold their ground. And although they were fighting fiercely, they were slowly being overwhelmed by the sheer force of the German assault. _How could this have happened, _she thought. _How could I've been so stupid, so… ignorant, that I couldn't see that this was a trap? Is this the end for me? To die like this, _she thought. She never would have imagined that her first battle would be her last, and her greatest failure as a commander.

She then took one last, good look at her pistol, still clutched in her hand. In it she saw her life's work. Her education at Lanseal, her promotion to Lieutenant, and her being given command of an entire company. She had worked hard to get to where she was now. And if she was going to die, she was going to make sure that it wasn't all for nothing. Soon she began to hear a voice talking to her which brought her back to reality.

She looked up to see her second-in-command, Sergeant John Carter, kneeling beside her. He is twenty years old, has shoulder length brown hair, and blue eyes. He was holding a Mags-M4 sub-machine gun and had a Colt 1911 pistol holstered to his belt. She knew him from her days at Lanseal. They both graduated from the same class, and were placed within the same squad respectively. The man was steadfast, loyal, and a great tactician. And she always thought of him as being a great friend. As she slowly came out of her own thoughts, she began to hear what John was saying.

"Mary! Mary, are you listening? What are your orders? What do we do?" he shouted at her fanatically. He looked at her and saw only a blank reaction. _What's wrong with her,_ he thought, _I've never seen her this out of it_.

Trying to get something out of her, he dropped his weapon and began to violently shake her. "Mary, snap out of it! We're in a situation here," he yelled. This seemed to work as she instantly snapped her back into reality.

She took a good look at her Sergeant and asked "Do you have any ideas?"

Carter simply shrugged and replied "Considering what's going on, no I don't." Just as he finished saying that, one of the soldiers who was firing with him was shot and fell backwards onto the ground. They both looked at him as he landed on the ground. The soldier had been shot in the face, with a bullet hole placed directly between his eyes, blood pouring from the wound. The placement was too accurate for any normal infantryman armed with a rifle.

Carter peaked from cover behind the tank and took a look around, careful to avoid becoming a target for the Nazi soldiers. He searched the surrounding buildings to see where that shot could have come from. He looked at the barn, the farmhouse, and several other buildings and saw nothing. When he got to the silo, he saw a large hole at the top with a single soldier standing inside, with a rifle in his hands. When Carter saw a glint coming from the rifle he instantly ducked back down. Almost a second later, a shot hit the tank just mere inches from where he stood.

"The krauts have a sniper in the silo," reported Carter.

"No offense John, but that sniper right now is the least of our problems," commented Read.

"So what do we do now? Doesn't look like we'll get out of this one," he asked.

"Looks like the only thing that we can do is stand and fight. Are you with me?" asked Read.

Carter took one look at his gun. He pulled out his magazine and saw that he still had some ammo left. As he put the magazine back in he replied "Lieutenant, it would be an honor." The two of them then jumped out of cover together firing away at the advancing German troops.

* * *

From up on the hill, the remaining Regulars and Squad 7 could see the battle raging below. They had all exited the trucks they were in to get a better look at what was going on. By now there were maybe about twenty five Regulars left. All of their tank support was gone now. They could see that the Germans had baited Lieutenant Reid into coming towards the farm with the bulk of her forces. And like a bee to honey, she walked blindly into it. Now her men were being massacred. Something that Welkin wasn't going to let continue.

He looked over to Alicia and ordered "Alicia, get everyone ready. We're going down there and help them."

Alicia nodded and informed the Squad "Get your gear and weapons ready. We're going in."

"You heard her Regs, we got some Nazi bastards to kill," added Jack.

* * *

Read and her remaining soldiers had formed a kind of defensive perimeter behind the wreckage of several tanks. The Nazis were slowly closing in on their position, undaunted by the fire that the Regulars were giving them. When they were within 10 feet of their lines, they simply stopped firing and held their ground. The Regulars stopped firing as soon as they noticed that. Read was curious as to why they were stopping their attack. Though the Germans stopped firing, they still had their weapons trained on them. _Why did they stop? They have the advantage. If I was in charge of these guys I wouldn't hesitate to keep pressing the attack, _she thought.

Suddenly,one of their soldiers peaked out of cover. He appeared to be the one leading the group as he was dressed in an officer's uniform and carried a Luger pistol. He calmly stepped out of cover and into plain view of the Regulars.

"Who among you is the commander of this force?" he asked them.

Read came into view and introduced herself. "Lieutenant Mary Read of Princess Cordelia's Regular Army."

The German officer nodded in respect to her then said "Good to meet you Lieutenant Read. I am Captain Hans Schneider, the commander of this company."

Looking past his friendly charade, Read asked him "What do you want Nazi?"

The officer simply smiled and replied "I regret to inform you that your company will not be arriving in Vasel with the rest of the Militia. Neither will they retake from the Reich's forces that already control it."

"Yeah, you keep saying that kraut. It won't save you. Vasel belongs to us. As does everything else in Gallia that you cretins have stolen from us," shouted Read defiantly.

"Ah, and that is where you are wrong. We are taking back what rightfully belongs to us. Gallia belongs to us. It belongs to our glorious Kaiser. Your people have forgotten that fact, and we are going to remind you that. Surrender now Lieutenant Read, and you can continue your service in the military. Not as a Lieutenant, but as a Captain in our _Wehrmacht_. Make your choice now and choose carefully. I won't be merciful if you make the wrong choice," explained Captain Schneider as he calmly pointed his weapon at her.

Read was appalled by what she had just heard. Was this guy offering her to betray her country, her family, and everything she believed in, to join the ranks of the Germanian military? Some would be tempted by the offer, and others would take it in a heartbeat, but she didn't want it at all. She took one good look at her men that stood beside her and shouted to the German officer "I got a better idea. Why don't you and your Kaiser go and off yourself!"

Carter joined in by shouting at him "Yeah, we're not taking any of your damn offers. Right boys?"

The remaining Regulars shouted back "Sir, yes sir."

Upon hearing this, the officer's mood changed drastically. He had tried to reason with them like civilized people. He tried to offer them a chance to live. But now that they had refused him so verbally, he had no choice but to get rid of them.

The officer looked to his men and ordered to them in German "_Die Waffen legt an._" And suddenly all around them they heard the cocking of German weapons. They were preparing to fire once more at them and finish them off. Each of the Regulars felt as if a dozen German rifles were pointed at each of their heads. They knew that this would probably be their last stand. Each of them readied their weapons for what looked like the end.

Then one of the two German Tiger tanks that was situated behind the German soldiers turned its turret and took aim at them. Just as it seemed that it was about to fire, the Tiger suddenly and without warning, exploded. The blast knocked back several German soldiers as well as surprising the rest of them about what had recently transpired.

One of the Regulars looked behind them and her eyes widened at what she just saw. The others noticed her reaction and looked to see what she saw. Their faces soon had the same look.

* * *

Squad 7, along with the remaining members of Read's company, were charging towards the action. Welkin was in the_ Edelweiss_, directing the charge from inside. The two tank destroyers that accompanied the Regulars flanked the _Edelweiss_ on both sides, firing away at the German soldiers. The soldiers of Welkin's squad and the Regulars were fanned out around them. They were charging at the German soldiers weapons drawn, bayonets attached, and firing away, hoping to kill a few of them before they got close to them.

The tank destroyer on the _Edelweiss's_ right flank fired a shot and it struck the second Tiger tanks side armor. It pierced the side and created a large hole in the armor. The tank didn't explode, pot thick black smoke began to fume out from the hole and the turret hatch. The tank hath opened up and out came two tank crewman. The crewman were consumed in fire, they were screaming in pain and agony. The fell to the ground, twitching and screaming at the top of their lungs until they suddenly just stopped moving and became silent. They now lied on the ground, dead.

The _Edelweiss_ followed with another two shots. The first one struck the base of the silo where the sniper was hiding. The tower soon began to fall forward under the sheer imbalance of weight. The concrete silo soon broke apart as it made contact with the ground. The second shot struck the Flak 88 cannon, destroying it instantly. The explosion soon expanded to the ammunition that they had piled up near it. It soon caught fire, adding to the explosion which soon destroyed the barn. The explosion set pieces of wood and metal shrapnel flying everywhere, killing any German soldier that was near it and wounding many others.

With their anti-armor support gone, the Germans began to fall back and retreat from the farm. The Germans soon abandoned the farm, and began the long run towards Vasel. Seeing that the Germans were running, the Gallians stopped charging and cheered as they were ran with their tails between their legs. Now that they had routed the enemy, they now had to regroup and count their dead before they could continue their trip to Vasel.

* * *

German to English Translation

_Die Waffen legt an. _\- Prepare to Fire!

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	12. Reassurances and Arrivals

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Farmstead 10 miles out from Vasel_

_ 0936 hours (9:36 am)_

Squad 7 along with the remaining Gallian Regulars were nearly done with securing the farmstead, or what was left of it. They checked out the remaining building to see if the Germans left any surprises left for them. It was normally a German tactic to leave armed booby traps in place when the enemy would capture the position. The enemy would then unknowingly stumble upon them and be killed, ensuring fear and chaos within the enemy forces. They searched the farmhouse, the remains of the silo, barn, and other buildings but they found nothing. The Germans must not have had the time to set them up. Or maybe they didn't think that they would need to and thought that they could easily repel the Gallian forces.

After that was done they set about doing other tasks before they would continue on to Vasel. They had moved their remaining vehicles and equipment down from the hill and positioned them next to the farm. Some were collecting the weapons dropped by the enemy, others stripped the farm of anything that was useful, and others gathered the dead and placed them into the trucks in sealed body bags. Meanwhile, Welkin, Alicia, Largo, And Rosie were discussing about their next move and those who weren't doing anything were engaging others in small talk.

Jack was leading a few members of Squad 7 in loading the dead into the trucks. With him were Scouts Juno Coren and Wavy, Shocktroopers Nina Streiss and Coby Caird, Lancer Rosina Seldon and Engineers Karl Landzaat and Herbert Nielson. Their Squad Medic Fina Sellers was keeping count of the bodies that they were loading in. She had just finished helping tend to the wounded and was asked by Jack to help establish a body count. Each body bag was being carried by two of them and they were nearing the end of their task, though they weren't going as fast as they should be due to one particular member.

After helping Juno load another body onto the truck, Jack looked to see Herbert lying on the grass, staring up at the sky with a blank look on his face. He had been lying there since the fighting ended. Even though Jack ordered him to help out. It seems he instead decided to simply do nothing. Jack just slowly turned his head left and right and thought to himself _That report wasn't kidding. The only way to get this guy to do anything is to find some way to motivate him_.

Juno noticed his reaction and informed him "This would go a lot faster if he'd help us."

"I know, I know," confirmed Jack "the problem is how to get him to help."

"What are you going to do?" she inquired.

He started to think about how he was going to handle this situation. Since he was a superior officer he could try and punish him for not following his orders. But then again he doubted that even that would work. Then it suddenly hit him, an idea. He knew just how to get that lazy blob off of his ass.

"Juno, go help Fina with the body count. I going to have a little chat with Nielson," ordered Jack. Juno simply followed his orders and went to talk with Fina. Jack then looked over to the others and shouted out "Streiss, Seldon."

The two women stopped what they were doing at the mentioning of their names. They both looked to Jack who signaled with his head for them to follow him. The three of them walked over to where Herbert was lying. Jack stood by his feet staring down on Nielson who appeared to be sleeping away. Nina and Rosina stood a few feet behind him, just out of his view.

Jack used his foot to slightly nudge Herbert's feet. This appeared to be enough as Herbert opened his eyes and then lifted his head up slightly to see Jack standing right in front of him.

"Funny thing Private. I don't remember giving you permission to ignore your job," informed Jack.

Herbert continued to look at Jack with a look of boredom on his face while complaining "I don't feel like doing it right now. Find someone else."

Jack began to slowly make his way towards his right side. A he was walking he spoke again to Herbert in a more stern voice "So you're just going to ignore any orders that we give to you then?"

"Yep. I have no interest in working right now," responded Herbert as he laid his head back on the grass.

Getting a little frustrated by his seemingly lack of motivation, Jack took his left foot and placed it upon his chest. He applied some pressure on his foot to get his attention which he did. Herbert then tried desperately to get Jack's boot off of him but no matter what he did it wouldn't budge. Jack was applying enough pressure so that Herbert would feel it but not enough for it to actually hurt him. He then knelt down next to him while keeping his foot placed squarely on his chest.

"Let me clarify something with you. This is the Militia, not your goddamn country home in the godforsaken desert. You know what that means? It means that we have something called the 'chain of command'. Here's how it works: Officers like me tell you what to do, AND YOU DO IT! End of chain. It also means that you don't get to sit on your ass and ignore your job simply because you don't feel like it at any given moment!" hollered Jack. The way he was presenting it began to scare Herbert. And it was visible on his face. The color in his face seemed drained and his eyes were open with fear.

"I've seen guys like you during my time in the U.S. Army. Guys who didn't do what they were told because they didn't feel like it! You know where those guys are now? They're buried six feet under at Arlington cemetery! Do you want that to happen to you?" he asked. Herbert nodded with a no because he was just too scared to know what would happen if he said "I don't care".

"Well good then. Because I don't care how long this war takes, if I have to kick your ass every minute of every day until this war ends in order to get you to do something then so be it! And if that doesn't work, I'll get these two over here to do it for me!" he yelled while pointing at Rosina and Nina.

Herbert looked over to see the two of them beginning to crack their knuckles. Herbert knew that these two women were focused when it came to exercise and muscle. And they wouldn't hesitate to show it when asked. Instantly thoughts began to flood his head, scary thoughts about what the two of them would do to him at Jack's orders. He now suddenly began to feel the desire to _actually _do what he was telling him to do.

"DO, YOU, UNDERSTAND, ME?" questioned Jack, enunciating every word. Herbert this time nodded in affirmation. Jack then got up on his feet and took his foot off of Herbert's chest. Jack then finished off his rant with "Now get off your ass and go help the others load the dead into those trucks now Private!" Herbert then scrambled onto his feet and ran off to do his job as fast as he could before anything happened to him.

Jack looked to Rosina and Nina and ordered "Make sure this guy doesn't lose his 'motivation' again."

They nodded in agreement and went back to helping the others who along with Nielson, were almost done loading the bodies. Jack went back to see how Juno and Fina were doing with the counting. As he was approaching them, he saw Juno looking at him with a sly smile on her face while Fina just stood there with the clipboard in her arms. When Jack reached them she pointed out "I saw what you did there."

Jack let out a light laugh at her comment. Out of all of Welkin's friends, Juno was the smartest of them. She could always tell when something was up with them. She knew exactly what kind of tactic Jack was using back there.

"Um what exactly 'did you do' there?" asked Fina.

"Intimidation. Scare the guy so much he'll do exactly what you tell him to do. Works every time. God I forgot how much fun being an officer was," he explained.

"You weren't really going to kick his ass were you?" she asked inquisitively.

"Nah. I was just kidding with him. But let's not tell him about that shall we," informed Jack.

Now it was Fina's turn to laugh. She let out a slight giggle out at Jack's comment. Her moment of happiness was shattered when Jack asked her "How many did we lose today?"

Her face turned somber as she took the clipboard and began to read the information that she wrote on it. "Squad 7 didn't receive any casualties. Other than a few scrapes and bruises, everyone's okay."

"What about the army? What were their losses?" asked Jack.

Fina took a deep breath before announcing "Sixty men dead. Another forty men wounded."

Jack could spout out no other word for the news that he just heard other than "Shit". The Regulars now had two thirds of their forces out of commission. Add the six tanks and their crews to that roster, Read's company was now severely depleted in terms of armored support and manpower. This will have serious consequences on them when they link up with the others at Vasel.

Meanwhile back at the _Edelweiss_, Welkin was discussing about the previous battle with Alicia, Largo, and Rosie while Isara was doing work on the tank. The battle had been a costly one. A lot of good men and women were killed fighting for this place. And a lot of the Regulars were not happy about it.

"God, how many people died here today?" asked Welkin solemnly.

"I don't know Lieutenant," said Largo "But I'm pretty sure that it was too many."

"It's that damn girl Read's fault. If it wasn't for her, then maybe a bunch of them would be still alive," pointed out Rosie.

"How is she taking it by the way?" wondered Alicia.

"I don't know. I'll go check on her," said Welkin as he went to go find her. Welkin searched throughout the farm until he finally found her siting outside the farmhouse. She was sitting on an upside down steel bucket. Her uniform, face, and hair were dirtied due to the fighting. She had taken off her hat and her hair was now out of a ponytail and was flowing freely in the calm breeze. She was staring at the ground, with a look of defeat and despair plainly placed upon her face.

Concerned about her, Welkin asked "Are you all right Read?" Read didn't budge at that. She didn't even look up from the ground. She just continued to stare at the ground in complete silence for a few seconds more. After that she finally broke her silence and said "One hundred men."

Welkin was confused by what she had just said. _One hundred men? What's she trying to tell me_? He soon got his answer when she spoke again. "Your Quartermaster just told me how many men I lost. 60 dead and another 40 wounded. Two-thirds of my company are gone, and it's all because of me," said Read sadly, tears just starting to form in her eyes.

"It's not your fault," assured Welkin "It was a well laid trap. There was no way you could have known about it."

Read let out a light scoff before commenting "That's easy for you to say. Your squad didn't have any casualties because you didn't foolishly lead them into a trap. You guys just rolled right in at the right moment and drove the Nazis out. You didn't make a mistake like I did."

"Mistakes are a part of nature. You can't be right all the time. All you can do is learn from your mistakes and use them to improve your judgement in the future," encouraged Welkin.

Read now looked at him, her look of sadness now replaced with irritation. She quickly got off the bucket and walked over to Welkin. She stopped just mere inches from him. Welkin could see that there was a sign of pent up anger inside of her that she was about to let out.

"Do you not have any idea how hard this is for me? My family has defended Gallia for generations. So when I was born they expected me to take up a rifle and do the exact same thing. I worked my ass off at Lanseal to become the ideal officer. I did this to make my family proud of me. And here I am, given my first command, and I've royally screwed it up. You think this is easy? That the mistakes that you make don't matter. Well stand around our fallen and ask them if our mistakes don't matter. The silence is your answer," ranted Read, making sure that Welkin understood how she was feeling.

She then stood there, waiting for the answer. She didn't expect what Welkin was about to say next. "I do know how it feels," responded Welkin. She stood there surprised by what she just heard. _How does he know how I feel? _

"My father is regarded as a hero by the entire country. He saved Gallia from Germania during the Great War. Now that this war's on, people expect the same things out of me. They expect me to be this valiant hero charging straight at the enemy leading us to victory. I don't think I'm like that. But that doesn't mean I'm at least going to try. I'm going to try and be a soldier to make my father proud. I don't know if I'll be good at it, and I know that I might make mistakes along the way. But what matters most is that I try my hardest," he explained.

Read took a few moments to let that all sink in. She now understood how he could know what she was feeling. He's the son of General Gunther himself. It was natural that others would expect the same things that they would from his father. There should be a lot of pressure on him as a result, yet he didn't seem affected or burdened by it. He knows that he's not like his father, and has little combat experience, but he's still going to try no matter what.

Maybe that's what she was missing. She was so focused on honoring her family's military tradition that she tried to do everything perfectly. She tried to do everything right and make sure that she wouldn't make any mistakes along the way. But that's not possible. Nobody was perfect, and everyone makes mistakes. All she had to do was at least try her best.

With that, Read took a deep breath before asking in a calm voice "So you think it's that easy huh? That I can just straighten myself out and try my best?"

"I don't think it would hurt," he admitted.

Read seemed to think about it long and hard for a few moments before announcing "Alright then, I'll give it a shot. Rally your men, I think we've been delayed long enough. Don't want the others think that they're going to have all the fun without us." She then took her officer's cap, placed it back on her head, and walked away to gather her men while Welkin did the same.

* * *

_Outskirts of Vasel_

_ 1005 hours (10:05 am)_

The Gallian Army and Militia units that would take part in the attack on Vasel had gathered behind a small forest on the outskirts of the city. The operation to retake Vasel was to happen at 11:30. Varrot however was worried, since without Read's company or Squad 7 they couldn't execute a critical part of the plan.

Faldio stood next to her wondering the exact same thing. They two of them should have been here by now. He kept wondering in his head what was taking them so long.

They stopped wondering when they saw their convoy arriving. However they noticed that something was wrong. The _Edelweiss_ was leading the convoy. Following it were the two tank destroyers, the half-tracks, and finally the trucks. _Where's the rest of the group?_ wondered Varrot.

As the convoy arrived and everyone started exiting the trucks. The two of them walked over to Welkin to find out what had happened. When Welkin noticed Varrot approaching him he snapped to attention and gave a quick salute. He didn't have a chance to say anything before she asked "Lieutenant, where's the rest of the convoy?"

"Gone ma'am," he responded. He then pointed over to the trucks where some of the Regulars along with Read and Carter were unloading the dead from the trucks. Welkin continued with "We were ambushed at a farm 10 miles from here. Most of Read's company was wiped out in the attack, along with all of our light tanks."

"How many men do you have left?" asked Faldio.

"I still have all the soldiers in my squad left. We didn't suffer any casualties. Read still has about fifty men left along with about forty wounded to take care of. We still have the Edelweiss and the tank destroyers as well. Other than that, not much else," explained Welkin.

"Well," informed Varrot "I hate to put you and Read's men back into the field, but we need everyone who can fight so we can retake Vasel. Follow me, I'll brief you on the plan and you can then relay it to your squad."

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	13. Assault on Vasel Part-1

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Outskirts of Vasel _

_1100 hours (11:00 am)_

"This is their plan?" muttered Jack in disbelief.

He and the rest of the Squad had gathered next to the _Edelweiss_ and had just heard Welkin relay to them what the Army's plan was for retaking Vasel. Jack and Alicia were facing them, trying to help dissuade their worries while Welkin was looking at a large map being held in his hands. The squad heard what the plan was and to say that it was crazy would be a gross, understatement.

From what the Intelligence Division of the Gallian army found out, the town was being defended by elements of the German 3rd Infantry Division. They're numbers in the city totaled about one and a half thousand men. They had situated five hundred troops on the Western portion of Vasel and placed the remaining thousand across the river to defend the Eastern portion of the city. The German soldiers were being supported by about twenty tanks and a handful of other armored vehicles. They also had with them heavy machine guns, mortars, anti-tank cannons, mines, and tank traps.

The plan called for the Gallian forces to attack the Germans by entering through the main road into the city. There they would break the German defenses and move on to the town hall. The town hall was were the enemy had set up their command post on the western side of Vasel. It stood right next to the town square which was right across from the drawbridge connecting the two half's of the city across the river. They would then cross the river and take the Western half before the Germans could recover. Though the plan sounded solid on paper, the reality was much different.

From what their Intelligence Service also found out, the Germans had entrenched themselves well within the city. They had expected the Gallians to make their assault from the main road. So they placed most of their forces in the western half on that road. This would ensure that the Gallians would be utterly destroyed or at the very least severely crippled should they attack. And if by some chance the Gallians managed to make it past them, they had several surprises waiting for them. They made use of the streets to create kill zones in multiple key locations. Several main streets inside the city had been barricaded off to lure the Gallians into their trap. And if the German's position was lost they could simply raise the drawbridge, denying the enemy access to the other side of the city.

The combined Gallian Regulars and Militia soldiers totaled about four hundred and fifty men and women. They also had about a dozen Gallian light tanks and half a dozen tank destroyers. They're numbers were supposed to be slightly larger. But the loss of so many of Lieutenant Read's soldiers caused their forces to be somewhat undermanned. This only added to their already major problem regarding the German defenses.

And as to make matters worse, they would receive no support whatsoever from the Gallian Royal Air Corps. The German _Luftwaffe_ had achieved air superiority over Gallia, and whatever pilots and planes the Gallians had left were spread out thin trying to support Gallia's already surrounded forces. Other than that, the only other problem that the Gallians had was with the plan that their superiors had drawn up.

"This isn't a plan. Its a suicide run!" bellowed Vyse.

"Are they trying to get us all killed?" questioned Aika.

Alicia could see how upset the squad members were. She could see exactly why. The plan that General Damon came up with was more likely to get everyone killed than allow them to retake Vasel from the Germans. If they were going to win this battle then they would have to find an alternate way into the city. One that wouldn't lead them into a hailstorm of German bullets.

"I understand that you guys are upset-" spoke Alicia before she was interrupted by Edy.

"Upset? Darling, _upset_ doesn't even begin to cover it," yelled Edy.

"I'm inclined to agree with her," noted Jack "We had suicide missions in the U.S. Army that had better odds than this. Fighting the Red Army was one thing. But fighting Nazis is a whole different level of tough."

Jack had done similar missions during his service in Alaska. During the war, the Soviets outnumbered the Americans 3 to 1, just like how the Germans outnumbered the Gallians right now. Jack and his men would often have to go on missions against overwhelming odds in order to defend a recently liberated town or taking a heavily fortified position. Though the odds were always against them, Jack always found a way around it and managed to lead his men to victory. But there were differences between the Soviet soldiers he fought then and the German soldiers that he was fighting now.

The Soviet soldiers during the war were mostly conscripts that the Soviet government forcibly drafted into the Red Army. Most of them were young men and women about 17 or 18 years old. The Americans jokingly nicknamed them 'The Cadet Army' on account of their lack of training or experience. Nearly all of them had never handled a weapon before in their entire life. Suddenly they were being dragged out of their homes, given only basic training before being handed a weapon and shipped off to the front lines to fight in a war that they didn't want anything to do with. Though there were some units in the Red Army that were volunteers who were patriotic and fully supported the Soviet cause, they were outnumbered by a mass of scared kids who were about to be shipped into hell.

The weapons they were given were typical Russian weaponry. They were designed to be reliable and cheap to produce. Weapons like the Mosin-Nagant 1891 bolt-action rifles, PPSH-41 submachine guns, and the Tokarev TT-33 pistol were given in hordes to the conscript forces. But even though the kids were inexperienced in the art of war, that didn't mean that they performed poorly in battle. They performed admirably, fighting valiantly against the Americans. Sadly however, this was not enough to help the Soviets win the war, and many of these kids lost their lives fighting against the American forces.

The German soldiers fighting in Gallia were completely different. The soldiers in their army were nearly all volunteers, stirred up by patriotic speeches given by their Kaiser, Byzantium zi Britannia. There they were given extensive training and drilled continuously to make them the perfect soldiers. They drilled them on small arms, piloting tanks, and the proper use of explosive devices like grenades or dynamite. This made them highly effective in battle and could make a small group of German soldiers able to defeat a force that was double their size. This is how the _Wehrmacht_ got it's reputation as the strongest and most superior army on the Europan continent, and how they managed to conquer most of Gallia in just a month.

The weapons in the German military were mass-produced like those of nations like America and the Soviet Union. What made them different was how much effort and time it took in developing them and creating them. The Germans were known for producing high quality military items in various fields that worked extremely well. This allowed the German models to perform better in battle than their counterparts. There are even reports of a single German tank destroying five enemy tanks while fighting in an open field in full view of each other. All of these factors combined made the Germans much more formidable, much more stronger, and much more dangerous foes than those of the Soviet Red Army.

"There has to be a way into Vasel without getting ourselves killed in the process," suggested Coby. Just after he said that, Welkin took his eyes off the map and announced "And I think I just found our way in." Everyone looked at him with surprise. They wanted to know how exactly he managed to find a way around the German's formidable defenses.

Welkin laid the map on a large wooden crate in front of them for all to see. The map showed the entire Western half of Vasel. It included all of the major buildings, the surrounding terrain, and all the possible routes into the city. The map was marked with a black pencil where the Germans had built defenses. As their Intel reported, it seemed that most of the Germans were situated on the Western entrance into Vasel. There were also smaller little defensive redoubts deeper inside with the largest redoubt placed around the town hall. Even on paper the German defenses seemed scary. Welkin pointed to an area set at the southern outskirts and then began about explaining his plan.

"This is an old map of the city. It shows that there is a small side road that leads into the city from the south. The road is still there, however there is a large and tall line of thick hedgerows covering the road and extending eastward straight to the river, and westward towards the small forest. If we break through the hedgerow, we can enter the city, bypass the enemy, and head straight for their command center. All of this while coming from the one place they won't expect us to enter," he explained thoroughly.

Karl looked at him puzzled. She asked him while scratching her head "Breaking through the hedgerow? Is that even possible?"

"Not likely," explained Nadine "Hedgerows are thick and pretty strong. And our tanks don't have the strength to break through."

"The Gallian Army's tanks no. But it's possible with the _Edelweiss_," corrected Isara.

"She's right. I've heard about what this tank did at Bruhl. If anything can break through that hunk of shrubs, it's that thing," supported Salinas. Salinas always had a thing for tanks. And the _Edelweiss_ was by far the best tank he had ever seen. And he was just itching to see this thing again.

"And the one thing that the Nazis have right is this. Your Generals are total idiots. They know the exact area where we'll attack. But the one thing they don't expect is being attacked from the one place that they think is unlikely. And that gives us an advantage," added Jack.

After Jack finished his comment, Rosie let out a light scoff. Welkin noticed her and asked "Is there a problem here Rosie?"

Rosie raised her eyebrow upon noticing that her called her by name instead of using her rank. "What? Not going to call me Corporal Stark?" she asked.

"I prefer being informal with my squad mates. Helps bring down the barriers," he explained.

Rosie was left momentarily stunned. She hadn't expected the kid to be so informal. He certainly wasn't what she expected from someone who came from a military family. Nether less, she ignored how stunned she was and set about explaining what was on her mind.

"Well let me just say this. This whole plan: I don't like it. How do you know this is going to work?What happens if your little toy gets stuck in the hedgerows? Or what happens if the krauts have defenses set up on the other side? Explain that then," she asked with some anger in her voice.

Welkin said nothing for a short while. Instead he surveyed the members of his squad for a few second before finally breaking his silence and pointing out "I know this is going to work. And I know this for several reasons. One: I studied Natural Science at the university. I know plants and animals better than anyone here. The second reason is because this is one thing our enemy won't expect."

The squad now looked at him, getting intrigued by what he was telling them. They didn't know where this was heading, but for some mysterious reason they wanted to continue listening.

"Our enemy is strong, stronger than any enemy Gallia has ever faced before. But for all their strength they have the same amount of arrogance. They think that they've won. That we can't fight back. But they are wrong. They know where we'll attack, but they don't expect us to have any sense as to hit them from the flank. Furthermore, they wouldn't expect us to do anything as audacious as what I've explained to you. This is why we'll succeed. This is why we will win today," said Welkin with a sense of fire and passion within his voice He took another good look at his troops and asked them one final question. "So what do you think, will we win?"

His answer was given when the whole squad shouted unanimously "Yes sir!"

And with that, Squad 7 hurried to gather the gear they would need in order to execute Welkin's plan.

* * *

_Outskirts of Vasel _

_1130 hours (11:30 am)_

The Gallian forces were hidden at the edge of the forest, just within 200 meters from the town itself. They waited silently, hiding behind the bushes, trees, and rocks as they awaited word to start the attack. Faldio hid behind a bush next to Lieutenant Read as both of them surveyed the area before them. The land was mostly flat grassland with some scattered cover consisting of large rocks, trees, bushes, small ridges, and the remains of a low stone wall. Finally there was the paved road that ran straight into the city.

The Germans were situated right where the road first connects to the city. There were about five Panzer IV's spread out across the line. The Germans dug a long trench line that seemed to stretch along the entire perimeter of the town. The trenches were filled with German soldiers, weapons pointed straight at the forest as they waited for the Gallians to start their attack. Some of the houses also appeared to have MG42 machine gun teams set up inside on the top levels. This would give them extra protection as well as a good vantage point in order to mow down the enemy attackers. And where there are machine gun teams, there will undoubtedly be snipers as well. Finally, the Germans had placed tank traps behind their tanks, blocking the Gallian tanks from access to Vasel. So before they could bring in their armor, their Engineers would have to remove these infernal contraptions.

Knowing that the time for the charge was drawing near, Read took a look around her to see if all of their men were in position. Each of them were exactly where they were supposed to be. But just as she finished sizing up their forces, she noticed something was missing. She felt like she knew exactly what it was, but for some reason she couldn't put her finger on it. _Something's wrong here, but what? _she thought. Then it suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks. Welkin and Squad 7 were nowhere to be found.

To find some answers she nudged Faldio and asked "Hey, where's Gunther?"

Faldio look around and realized what she was asking him. But before he could respond, he could hear Captain Varrot shouting from behind them. "Everyone get ready, the operation is about to begin," she announced. The air was now filled with cocking of weapons and the loading of magazines as the Gallian forces made their last minute preparations. While they were doing that, Varrot pulled out a small whistle from one of her pouches. Once all of the noise had finally stopped, she placed the whistle close to her lips and with one great gust of breath she blew into the whistle sending out a high pitch squeal throughout the air.

The Gallians emerged from their positions in the forest. With a loud and defiant battle cry, they charged at the Nazi lines with all their might and as fast as their legs could run. Several of their tanks soon emerged after them. They adjusted their speed so that they wouldn't outrun the infantry but could still keep up with them. From the German lines, they watched as the Gallians drew closer, waiting for the right moment to open fire. When the Gallians had already advanced fifty meters towards their positions, the Panzer IV's fired their cannons with a series of resounding booms. Two of their shells missed and exploded harmlessly upon impact with the ground. Another two shells struck the ground as well, with several Regulars and Militia killed from the shockwave of the blast itself or from the shrapnel when the shell exploded. The final shell, made contact with one of the tanks. It struck the tank's turret, the sheer force of the impact blasting the turret clear off.

As the Gallians drew closer, one of their men stepped on a small metallic device sticking out of the ground. The moment that he took his foot off, the device shot up into the air revealing itself to be a small cylindrical canister. Once that canister was five feet into the air, it detonated, sending waves of shrapnel into anyone close enough to the explosion. This continued for several seconds as over two dozen more of these devices were unknowingly launched into the air by an unsuspecting Gallian boot tread.

These were S-Mines, more commonly known as 'Bouncing Betties' by other armies. These were the standard German anti-personnel mine in service. These were one of the more feared weapons that the Germans created. They were designed to be launched into the air once they were triggered. And once the mine reached a height of five feet, it would detonate, and send it's payload of shrapnel against any enemy infantry near it. And these mines caused a great toll on the Gallian forces.

The shrapnel cut into their bodies, carving themselves deep into their flesh and destroying their insides. Some were lucky as they died instantly due to their close proximity from the blast. Others were not so lucky. Those that were farther from the blast were not killed, but the shrapnel caused grave wounds. They fell to the ground, screaming and crying in agony as they writhed on the ground from the unbearable pain. Gallians that were passing right next to them grabbed them by their uniform and pulled them to cover behind the ridges for their safety. The then ran back towards the Germans while the medics stayed behind with the wounded to ease their suffering and heal their wounds.

Despite these obstacles, the Gallians continued to charge. Undaunted by the fire from the German Panzers, they only stopped their charged when the cannon fire was joined by the rattling of machine guns and the loud bangs from their rifles. The Gallians broke their charge and ran for the nearest cover that they could find. They had managed to reach within 50 meters from the German lines, and were now engaging the enemy with small arms fire. The Germans fired on them from both the trenches and from the houses through the windows and door frames while the Gallians fired from behind tree trunks, stone walls, and ridges.

The German Panzers continued to fire at the Gallian tanks, keeping them pinned down behind the ridges. Whenever the chance would present itself, the Gallian tanks would peak out of cover and fire a shot at the enemy and quickly fall back. Unfortunately as they had to fire quickly before the Germans could reload, their shots tended to miss the intended target. And those that managed to make contact simply bounced off the Panzer's thick frontal armor.

Faldio and Read took cover behind one of these ridges along with several Regulars and Militia soldiers and fired upon any enemy foolish enough to stick their heads out of cover. Faldio took aim with his Gallian semi-automatic rifle at a German soldier armed with an Stg44 assault rifle in the trenches and fired twice. The first shot missed, striking the ground while the second shot buried itself inside the German's head as he fell backwards, disappearing back into the trench. Read used her Mags sub-machine gun and fired on a German soldier hiding in a doorway armed with a Kar98k bolt-action rifle, emptying her entire magazine as she riddled his body with over ten bullets out of her original twenty.

As they both ducked back into cover to reload, Read reminded Faldio "Where the hell is Gunther? We could use his tank right about now."

"I don't know. But I know he can't be far," he answered. Suddenly a German tank shell hit the ground directly in front of their cover, sending dirt and debris high into the air, some of them falling down upon them. On instinct they ducked their heads and covered them with their hands. As the last of the dirt settled down, they saw Captain Varrot accompanied by two Militia soldiers running towards their position. When Varrot approached them she knelt down as to use the ridge to protect herself from the enemy fire.

"Lieutenant Read, status report," ordered Varrot.

"Looks like Intel was right. These Nazi bastards were definitely ready for us. I don't know if we'll be able to so much step foot in Vasel," she reported back. Right now, the Gallian offensive had halted just outside the city. And without any kind of support, it seemed unlikely that they would be able to advance any further without their entire force getting annihilated. Varrot suspected that this might happen. She knew that this plan was doomed to failure from the moment she read it. However, the Gallians still had Lieutenant Welkin and the _Edelweiss_. With them they still had a chance to win.

"Lieutenant Faldio. Get Lieutenant Gunther and his squad up at the front. Use their armor to take out the German Panzers," she suggested, in an attempt to turn the tide of the battle.

Faldio and Read looked at each other with a look like something was wrong, which there was. Varrot noticed it and asked sternly "Is there something I should know?"

The two of them looked back at Varrot with the same look on their face. A few seconds later Read admitted shyly "Um, we can't find him."

"What do you mean 'you can't find him'?" she asked Read with a mixture of surprise and anger in her voice. She didn't think that Gunther would be the type to suddenly disappear under her watch.

Faldio clarified "What she means is that we don't know where he or his squad is right now."

Varrot looked over to Faldio's left to see a Regular Engineer behind their cover carrying a large radio on his back. "You private, what's your name?" she asked him. The soldier turned to Varrot upon hearing her call out for him and answered her "Private Michael Stark, First Company, Vasel Battalion."

After his response she ordered him "Get on that radio and contact Lieutenant Gunther. I want to know where the hell he is right now."

* * *

_Southern Outskirts of Vasel_

Squad 7 had gathered right next to the hedgerow that blocked their southern entrance into Vasel. They were prepped and ready for the fight, with their weapons loaded and their gear at hand and ready to go. Welkin and Isara were inside the _Edelweiss_, backing it up so that they could take out the hedgerow with one fast blow. Welkin had ordered the squad to rush through the opening in the hedgerow immediately after the Edelweiss had past through. As the _Edelweiss _was preparing to burst through the hedgerow, Jack nudged Alicia's arm and said "I bet you twenty Ducats that this plan actually works."

Alicia looked at him bewildered and questioned "We're about to start an operation and you want to make a bet with me?"

Jack just simply shrugged his shoulders and replied "I got nothing better to do."

Alicia simply let out a sigh and rolled her eyes before giving in and saying "Alright, twenty Ducats if this goes well."

They then turned their heads looking towards the _Edelweiss_. Welkin and Isara had moved the tank fifty meters away from the hedgerow. This is to make sure that the Edelweiss had a good chance to build the necessary momentum in order to reach its top speed that would enable it to successfully breach through the hedgerow and create a pathway for the rest of the squad to pass through. Once that was done they would move on to the enemy command center and enact the next stage of Welkin's plan.

Inside the _Edelweiss_ Welkin sat inside the turret eyeing the hedgerow through the main cannons sights. The squad were lined up along the hedgerow on both sides with them leaving a space between them large enough for the tank to pass through. Welkin smiled a little bit seeing how well everything was going so far. Now he was simply hoping that nothing unexpected would happen and jeopardize the safety of his squad.

Isara was checking the dials and switches to see that everything was in place and that there were no problems, not that she was expecting any. Ever since she was old enough to handle a wrench she had taken a great deal of time and hard work into keeping the _Edelweiss_ in ready condition. She was very meticulous with her work. Every socket, every dial, every square inch of the _Edelweiss_ she poured her heart and soul into maintaining it. This tank was her pride and joy, and she would always take great care of it. Once she was finished she took a few moments to stare at her handy work.

She was brought back to reality at the sound of her brother's voice. "We ready to go Is?" he asked her.

She looked up to him and replied back "Roger. The _Edelweiss_ is ready to go."

Welkin gave her a slight nod and said "Alright then. Full speed ahead Is. We got a battle to win."

Isara immediately took the wheel of the _Edelweiss_ and hit the gas pedal as hard as she could. The tank lunged forward, gaining speed with every few seconds. Isara perfectly aimed the vehicle within the gap between the squad members. About a dozen meters from the impact point, the _Edelweiss_ had managed to reach its top speed of 60 kilometers an hour. When the vehicle hit the hedgerow, the shrubs and branches that made it cracked and gave way instantly, allowing the _Edelweiss_ to pass through the hedgerow perfectly unhindered. It rolled forward for a little bit until it came to a grinding halt, Vasel, and a road that led directly into it, just a few feet in front of them. The rest of Squad 7 took advantage of the opening that Welkin created and flooded through, taking up positions around the _Edelweiss_ and behind some of the buildings in front of them.

Once the squad had regrouped on the other side of the hedgerow, Welkin opened the turret hatch and stood through it in order to command his squad directly. Now that they had cleared the hedgerow, they now had a clear shot towards the town hall. But just as Welkin was about to order his squad to move forward, one of his Engineers, Karl Landzaat, stopped and informed him "Lieutenant, Captain Varrot's contacting us. She wants to talk to you."

_That's probably because she knows that we're gone, _he thought. When Welkin took his squad to execute the plan, he kind of left the Captain out of the loop. Mostly because he didn't think that she would approve of it. So when the time came to do the plan, they moved southward while the rest of the main force wasn't looking. He had hoped that she wouldn't notice, but Karl's words just shattered that hope. Welkin knew that he couldn't just ignore her trying to contact them, so he had no choice but to accept the call and try to convince her that this would work. He signaled Karl to hand over the radio, which he did. Welkin then grabbed the phone handle attached to it and answered "This is Lieutenant Gunther of Squad 7. Is there a problem Captain?"

"Lieutenant, 'a problem' would be putting it lightly," said a very irritated Varrot. "Where are you and what are you doing? We need you here to help breach the line," she informed him.

"Ma'am, we're south of your position. About to enter Vasel from the south and make towards the enemy command center," he reported in the most straightforward way he could.

There was a moment of silence before Varrot asked "South? How did you manage to get past the Germans?"

"Ma'am, I don't think now's the time to discuss this. My squad is in position to hit the heart of the enemy. We can bring this battle to an end right now. Please, let us do this," he pleaded, trying to get her to allow their plan.

There was another moment of silence that lasted a bit longer than before. It seemed to go on forever as Welkin waited for a response, hoping that it wasn't a no. Then on the other end he heard Varrot's voice speak once more "Alright then, do what you have to do. We'll keep the enemy distracted so that you can proceed. Take out the command center and push them back. But remember, you and me are going to have a talk when this is over."

Relieved that they had been given permission to carry out their plan, Welkin ended the call saying "Roger that Captain. And good luck out there." After he handed back the radio beck to Karl, he turned to his men and ordered "The enemy is ahead. Take out their center of operations, and this fight is won. Squad 7, move out!" He then signaled with his hand to move forward and everyone followed the _Edelweiss_ as it led them through the streets of Vasel.

* * *

Squad 7 moves swiftly through the streets of Vasel. Advancing cautiously to avoid being ambushed. So far they hadn't come upon any German forces within the city. Even when they would pass by the redoubts the Germans had set up if they needed to fall back. Some of the older members of the squad began to think that they were walking right into a trap, while the others just couldn't believe how good their luck was. They continued to advance through the city until they reached a line of buildings that separated them from the town hall. In order to see what they would be up against, Welkin set several Scouts into one of the buildings to see what the Germans had defending the town hall.

When they returned they laid out the situation before them. Past the houses, there was a large courtyard between them and the front of the town hall. There was also another courtyard behind the building that separated it from the bridge. In the courtyard in front of them, the Germans had a single platoon of thirty men along with a few light armored cars. They had set up sandbags along various points in the courtyard for cover and the armored cars were all parked in a single line. They had no heavy weapons with them, at least none that they could see. They couldn't tell what was inside the town hall or in the courtyard behind it, but it was most likely that there were some kind of enemy force in both of them.

"I don't get it. Normally, the Germans would have a bigger force defending their HQ. How come there's only a platoon here?" wondered Largo, putting his knowledge of German tactics from the last war to use.

"Maybe what Welkin said was true. They're overconfident," suggested Jack as he pointed to Welkin, who was still standing through the _Edelweiss's_ turret hatch, and was looking at the map of Vasel to figure out a strategy on how to take the town hall.

"Maybe. But I wouldn't count on what the 'Lieutenant' says very much," stated Largo, saying the word _Lieutenant_ with a hint of distaste.

Jack looked up at Largo and asked "You don't think much of him do you?"

Largo just stood there, not even turning to look at Jack. He then said "Kid, I went through four years of hell fighting the Germans in the Great War. My friends and I crawled through dirt, mud, and sand to kick them out of Gallia. Now here I am almost twenty years, doing the exact same thing, but now taking orders from some other kid who knows nothing about what we went through."

Seeing that Largo seemed a little upset by his question. Jack just looked away from him and replied "Okay, never mind. Just forget I asked."

After he had said that, the two of them looked at Welkin who was ready to give them their orders. He yelled loud enough for everyone to hear but not loud enough so that the Germans couldn't hear them. "Alright, here's what we'll do. We'll split into two groups and attack the enemy from the two entryways into the square. I'll lead one group with the _Edelweiss_ while Jack here leads the other group. We'll attack simultaneously, as to catch the Germans off guard. Expect the enemy to reinforce their position with their forces from the town hall and in the other square. If we work together, stay in cover, and keep our heads down, we can succeed here," he said.

"Those armored cars are going to be a problem. If we don't take them out quickly, they'll tear us apart," noted Wavy.

"That's why we're here," explained Hector "We'll take out those tin cans in one shot."

"Exactly" supported Welkin "We'll have the Snipers and Lancers set up inside the buildings here. Snipers, target the enemy officers while the Lancers will help take out the armor along with their defenses if they get the chance. When I give you the signal. You fire on the enemy and the rest of us will begin out assault. After we begin our attack you can exit the building and join us on the ground."

"No offense, but I prefer to stay away from the front," mentioned Cezary.

"Well I'd prefer to be back home with my family five thousand miles from here instead of fighting a war but here I am so shut up and do your job jackass," said Jack in a clever comeback which some of the squad member laughed at.

"Just out of curiosity, what is the signal anyway?" asked Elysee.

Welkin simply smiled and answered with "You'll know when you see it." He then turned to his men and finished with a final order. "Alright then, Snipers and Lancers take up positions. Everyone else split up into two groups and follow either me and Jack onto our designated points. Alright everybody, lets move!"

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	14. Assault on Vasel Part-2

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

Squad 7 was now in position to attack the Germans. Largo along with the Lancers and Snipers had taken up positions in the buildings near the windows. They were hiding from the as to keep themselves from being spotted too early and ruin the attack. Meanwhile, the rest of the squad had split into two groups in order to attack the Germans from the two opposing sides of the courtyard. Welkin's group was situated near the left entrance into the square while Jack's was positioned at the right entrance. They too were hiding behind the buildings to avoid being spotted. The two of them had divided up the Scouts, Shocktroopers, and Engineers to help form their strike forces. The two of them would lead their strike groups down opposing sides of the courtyard with the exception of the_ Edelweiss_ taking the lead from the center.

The people that made up Jack's unit were as follows. For the Scouts he had Aika Thompson, Freesia York, Ted Ustinov, Melville Young, Montley Leonard, Susie Evans, and Ramona Linton. For the Shocktroopers he had with him Rosie, Vyse Inglebard, Salinas Milton, Jane Turner, Edy Nelson, Wendy Cheslock, and Hannes Salinger. And for the Engineers he had Nadine, Homer Peron, Herbert Nielson, and Karl Landzaat.

Welkin would be leading his group from the _Edelweiss_. The members of his squad were as follows. For the Scouts he had Alicia, Cherry Stijnen, Hermes Kissenger, Juno Coren, Nancy Dufour, Noce Wordsworth, and Wavy. For the Shocktroopers he had Aisha Neumann, Alex Raymond, Coby Caird, Dorothy Howard, Kevin Abbot, Mica Hawkins, and Nina Streiss. And finally for the Engineers he had Claudia Mann, Dallas Wyatt, Ramsey Clement, and Fina Sellers.

Before he could begin the attack, Welkin took a last quick peek at the German forces that he was up against. The German soldiers seemed calm, in fact they were relaxing. They didn't think that they were going to be attacked since they battle was being waged far from here on the outskirts of the city. They probably thought that they were simply just going to relax here for the rest of the battle. And probably for the rest of the war as well.

He then turned his gaze towards the right entrance. And from behind one of the buildings he could faintly see Jack signaling to him that he and his men were in position. He put on his radio headset to talk to the rest of his forces and see if everyone else was ready.

"Alright here's what's going to happen. When Jack's men give the signal, the Lancers will take out their armor and defenses while the Snipers eliminate a few of their officers. Our two groups will attack simultaneously to ensure we use this surprise attack to our fullest. Everyone, take out as many soldiers as you can before they can organize a defense," he informed them.

From the static in his headphones he could hear Rosie's voice speak into it from the radio one of the Engineers in Jack's squad had. "Shocktroopers here. Leave the offense to us," she reminded Welkin.

Welkin confirmed with "Alright then. Thanks for the reminder. Once the Germans recover they'll likely bring in reinforcements from nearby. Be ready for anything, including Panzers."

Once again his headset crackled to life with Largo's voice coming out of it this time. "How long do you think I've been an anti-tank man?" he asked him "A couple of Nazi Panzers ain't no sweat," he added.

"That's the spirit Largo," encouraged Welkin with a grin on his face. "Now get ready to fire. Be ready to attack the moment Jack's group gives the signal," he notified.

From inside the houses overlooking the courtyard, the Lancers and Snipers began readying themselves for the attack. The Lancers fixed the rocket warheads at the tip of their anti-tank lances while hiding near the windows on the ground floor, ready to attack once the signal was given. They carried with them two different types of warheads that they would need for the attack. They had armor piercing and high explosive warheads. They would use the armor piercing rounds for hardened targets like fortified bunkers and Panzers, while the explosive warheads would take out Nazi defenders in the buildings and groups of infantry huddled together behind the sandbags dotting the courtyard. These would no doubt come in handy during the fighting ahead.

The Snipers took position in the building directly opposite from the front of the town hall. They positioned themselves on the top floor, giving them a clear vantage point over the courtyard, enabling them to spot multiple targets. They placed themselves on opposite ends of the buildings in groups of two, as it was customary for snipers to travel in pairs, though Marina quite loathed the idea due to the fact that she preferred to work alone. She and Cezary took one side while Oscar and Catherine took the other end. They were already crouching at the windows, staying in the shadows to avoid being spotted. Their rifles barely stuck out of the windows as they looked through the scopes of their rifles, scanning the courtyard for officers and other lucrative potential targets.

Meanwhile Jack's men were finally ready to begin. After Jack finished loading a fresh magazine into his BAR, he turned to Aika and asked her "Are ya ready?"

She nodded in affirmation as she showed him her rifle. She had attached a Randgrizer-M5 rifle grenade launcher underneath her rifle near the muzzle. The grenade being used was the same grenade that their infantry was carrying, being inserted into a small hollow tube handle first. The device was linked to the trigger of her rifle so it allowed her to fire the grenade without firing a bullet at the same time. After she had fired the grenade, she would remove the attachment and the return the rifle to using it's primary ammunition.

Jack turned to the courtyard and pointed at a lonely parked truck. The truck was called an Opel Blitz series truck used for the military. It was made by Adam Opel AG, Germania's biggest tuck manufacturer. It was used to transport troops and supplies to the front as well as towing anti-tank, anti-aircraft, or large artillery guns. These trucks were known for their reliability and ease of usage. The Germans mass produced these trucks in the thousands to keep their war machine running as smoothly as possible. Yet for all their greatness, these trucks were vulnerable to small arms fire and anything larger, including a rifle fired grenade.

"See that truck over there? Blast it to pieces," he ordered Aika.

Aika then took a few steps forward ahead of the group before kneeling in the middle of the road, the truck squarely in her sights. She took her rifle and raised it into the air in a steep acute angle. She waited a few moments before firing, steadying her breathing to avoid missing her target by a few mere inches because her aiming was off a few degrees. She applied slight pressure to the trigger, readying herself to launch her deadly package into the air.

Without a moments hesitation, she pulled the trigger, launching the grenade into the air once she was one hundred percent sure that she had it right on target. The grenade flew through the air, spinning as it was glided through the air. It began it's descent once it reached it's maximum height. As it continued to fall to the ground, it's path for descent got it closer and closer to the truck. It landed a few feet from the truck, it's forward momentum forcing it to continue forward. It clattered forward along the stone courtyard, only stopping when it was under the truck, directly underneath where the truck's engine was located.

It laid there, completely silent, until it triggered the explosive charge inside the casing. The grenade exploded violently, causing a chain reaction with the truck. Some of the red hot shrapnel released when the grenade exploded forced itself upwards, cutting it's way through the metal parts of the engine. The damage the shrapnel caused would have just made the engine useless if not for one of them carving it's way into the container that carried the gas for the truck. The red hot shrapnel, combined with the gas and fumes in the tank, created a violent result. The gas ignited, resulting a violent explosion that came out of the truck. It engulfed the truck in a ball of red fire and black smoke that caused the German soldiers in the courtyard to either run for cover or turn their head to the sound of the explosion while ducking on instinct at the same time. Others that were near the truck when it was destroyed were killed instantly in the shock wave from the blast and were thrown like rag dolls across the courtyard.

Realizing that the explosion was the signal, Largo and the Lancers sprung into action. They stepped into view from the windows and fired their warheads at the confused and bewildered German forces. Largo along with Jann, Nils, and Hector fired armor-piercing warheads at a line of armored cars parked all nicely in a row. The Germans did this to help protect against anyone stealing them. It also made them easy targets for enemy forces. They fired their warheads, each one flying through the air so fast the naked eye couldn't catch them. They hit their targets, slicing through their thin armor like a hot knife cutting through butter. Each of the armored cars were knocked out of action as they became engulfed in a large explosion. The remaining Lancers fired the explosive warheads into the courtyard itself, hoping to knock out any defenses or Nazis caught in the blast. Two of the warheads missed completely, exploding harmlessly in the courtyard. The others struck hard, some obliterating lines of sandbags as the rest killed groups of Nazis stumbling around, trying to figure out what was going on.

Then the Snipers came into play. During the initial carnage caused by the grenade fired by Aika and the devastation created by the Lancers, they had been keeping tabs on where the enemy officers were as events were playing out. They never left their sight as the crosshairs of their sniper rifles continued to keep a calm and steady bead on their heads. After the explosions had subsided, the four snipers fired their weapons in harmonious sync, knocking out four German Sergeants simultaneously with a single, fatal shot to the head. They fell to the ground, slumped over the pavement, dead as door nails.

Now that there was just enough carnage and confusion going on, the time had come to launch the full force of the attack. Welkin climbed back into the turret and quickly readied the main cannon for battle. Then he yelled into his radio headset as loud and clear as he could "Squad 7. move out!" And with that the Edelweiss moved forward at full speed followed closely behind by Alicia and the other Squad 7 members. Seeing them move out, Jack's group followed suit and moved out towards the German defenses.

* * *

For the Germans in the courtyard, they stood around, still trying to figure out what had just happened. Their light vehicles had just been destroyed along with several of their defenses and killing almost two dozen of their people. Had they just been attacked? It was most likely, but by what? Gallian soldiers? No, the Gallians were all on the outskirts trying to desperately break through their lines. Could it have been enemy artillery? That was more likely, but how? The hits were seemingly all too accurate to be artillery. They would have needed a spotter in order to convey the coordinates for where the artillery should strike. And that would of been more improbable due to the fact that the Germans had complete control of Vasel. What the hell had just happened?

As they stumbled around, licking their wounds and scratching their heads, a single German soldier closest to the two entrances into the courtyard began hearing a strange noise coming from one of those entrances. He quickly grabbed his rifle and began slowly walking towards the entrance to investigate. As he drew closer, he could hear the strange noise grow louder and louder. It was as if whatever contraption was causing it was drawing closer and closer to the courtyard at an amazingly fast speed. The sound was vaguely familiar to the soldier, as he had remembered hearing something like that somewhere. it suddenly hit him as he remembered what it was. That was the sound of a tank. Maybe it was one of their Panzers coming back to help investigate what had happened.

His expression turned to shock and fear as he saw the tank coming around the corner. It wasn't one of their tanks. The color scheme was that of Gallian tanks and the design was similar to their tanks but it wasn't a model he had ever seen before. When he saw soldiers dressed in uniforms with the same color following behind the tank as well as from the other entrance into the courtyard he suddenly realized what was going on. They were being attacked by the Gallian army.

In complete panic he ran to his comrades as fast as he could, screaming at the top of his lungs and arms flailing wildly in the air. Trying to warn his comrades he yelled as loud as he could _"Sie haben durchbrochen! Die Gallians sind hier!"_ His fellow soldiers turned towards him to see what all the commotion was about. Only after a second after laying eyes on him did they notice the Gallian soldiers charging behind him. The rest of them immediately fell into panic as they wildly raced around to try and organize some kind of a response to what was happening. Most ran towards the town hall to take position behind the sandbags. A few stayed behind and fired their weapons at the _Edelweiss_ in a vain attempt to try and hold them.

The bullets ricocheted off the _Edelweiss's_ hull like rocks thrown upon a building. It's coaxial .50 caliber machine gun unleashing a long burst at the Germans. The bullets buzzed all around them due to the _Edelweiss's_ aim being off a little due to it charging forward. But little by little they were all struck down by the machine guns withering fire.

Squad 7 continued their advance up until they reached the wrecks of the truck and the armored cars, still smoking from the recent bombardment. The _Edelweiss_ stood between the wrecks, angling itself into a wall to protect the squad from enemy bullets. The squad took cover behind the _Edelweiss_ along with finding cover behind the wrecks and a few lines of sandbags situated in front of them. By this time the Germans had gotten their bearings together and had establish a small defensive line. The remaining soldiers in the courtyard had taken positions behind the few sandbags that were directly in front of the town hall. And the Nazis that were already inside the town hall had broken the windows with their weapons and were now taking pot shots at Squad 7 from the windows on all five floors. Squad 7 responded in the same manner, firing at any German soldier crazy enough to stick their heads up.

Things were that way for a while until the Germans set up an MG42 on a second-story window just above the front entrance to the town hall. They had set it up on a bipod and fired upon the Gallians from above. It currently had set it's sights on Alicia, Rosie, and Largo who were being pinned behind a wall of sandbags. Using it as a shield to protect themselves from the immense amount of bullets that the MG42 was firing at them.

"Goddammit! How did the Germans get this much firepower?" yelled Rosie as she tried to wrap her head around what was going on.

Alicia looked at Largo and asked him "Was it like this during the Great War?" After she said that, a few bullets hit the sandbags near her head, causing her to flinch and squeal a little in surprise. Largo managed to answer her question with "Yeah. Though they seemed to have improved their arsenal since then."

"One thing you can trust about the Nazis," announced Jack who was firing his BAR from cover behind one of the wrecked armored car. The trio looked towards him as he fired another burst from his gun at one of the German's firing from the windows. He then ducked back into cover before finishing with "They're really good at designing things to kill people with."

"Well, we're going to need to figure out a way to deal with them so we can take the building," informed Largo taking into account their current situation.

"Leave that to me," shouted Welkin. Now they all looked to see him out of the turret hatch. He was manning the .50 caliber machine gun mounted on the turret to try and give suppressive fire for his troops. His bullets either pierced the thin walls travelling into the interior of the building or striking the bodies of German soldiers firing from the windows or from behind the sandbags. He had managed to kill about ten with this method so far, but he had an idea as to how to end this much quicker. Letting go of the heavy machine gun, he climbed back into the _Edelweiss_ and closed the hatch leading into the tank.

For a few second the four of them wondered what the hell he was going to do next. Suddenly, the _Edelweiss_ began to aim it's cannon straight at the front door of the town hall. A few seconds after pinpointing where the shell would hit, the _Edelweiss_ fired it's main gun, the shell striking right in the middle of the door. The explosion from the shot was so massive that it created a massive hole in the front of the building. Almost the entire front portion of the town hall had disintegrated into thousands of pieces of rubble that flew all around them through the air. The Germans that were on the street were pummeled from sheer force of the rubble colliding with their bodies. The members of Squad 7 however managed to avoid it by quickly using their covered to shield themselves from the blast. When the dust from the explosion settled and the rubble stopped falling, they peaked their heads back out and saw the devastation the shell created.

Rubble littered throughout the ground in front of them, with heaps of it surrounding the building. The Germans in the courtyard laid dead upon the ground, their bodies bruised and bloody from the blunt force trauma given to them by the rubble. Flying gently through the air were hundreds of shreds of burnt paper. These must have come from documents littered all over the building. They then saw that at ground zero of where the shell hit, the inside of the town hall was so demolished that only a few of the supports along with the rear wall remained standing. It was also safe to assume that most of the Germans hiding inside the building were killed, wounded, or dazed from the impact.

"High-explosive shells," noted Jack "Always good for demolishing buildings."

"Tee hee hee. Kaboom," mumbled Cheslock who was standing beside Jack, staring at awe at the devastation the shell created with a large grin on her face.

Alicia peaked her head from cover to survey the damage. She judged that from the scale and impact, that it was probably safe to try and see if the building was secure. She looked to Jack and ordered "Gather some men and follow me. We're going to see if anyone survived that."

Jack nodded in agreement before looking at the solder next to him and yelled "You buggers heard the lady. Get moving!"

Alicia vaulted over the sandbags followed closely by Jack along with several other Squad 7 members. These members were Scouts Ted Ustinov, Susie Evans, and Noce Wordsworth, Shocktroopers Wendy Cheslock and Jane Turner, Engineer Nadine, and Sniper Cezary Regard. The rest of the squad stayed behind, watching as their comrades moved forward to confirm whether the building was clear. They advanced steadily and cautiously over the rubble and slain bodies of their enemies. They had their weapons drawn and ready, scanning the remains of the building for any Nazis who survived.

Just as they were about to enter what remained of the building, one of them spotted a hand sticking out from behind the ruins of a wall holding a torn piece of white cloth. They immediately froze where they stood as the figure came out from hiding, revealing itself as a female German soldier. She appeared to be the same age as Alicia, except slightly taller. Her clothes were covered with dust and torn in several different places. She appeared to have a large cut on her leg and blood was very slowly coming out from it. Her face held the expression of a person defeated and without hope. She slowly limped towards Squad 7 hands raised in the air, still holding that white cloth.

She didn't make two steps before Jane took aim with her sub-machine gun and fired a quick burst before Noce grabbed her gun by the barrel and diverted it's aim away from the soldier before she could continue to fire. The burst she fired missed the soldier who has instinctively dropped to the ground to avoid being shot. The soldier then laid on the ground, quivering like a scared child while shielding her head with her arms.

Noce and Jane were still wrestling each other for her the gun before Jack got in the middle of them. He wrenched the gun from their hands and pushed the two of them away from each other. "Enough, both of you!" he shouted to the both of them. Before he could say anything more, he looked to see Welkin strolling towards them with an angry look on his face. He stopped in front of Jane and demanded "Would you like to tell me what the hell that was all about?"

Jane answered him with nothing but silence and the same angry look that she had on her face from day one. After a few seconds of nothing Welkin looked towards Jack and Alicia and signaled for both of them to follow him. The three left the group and walked over to the German soldier still quivering on the ground. She looked up to see the three of them standing in front of her. Slowly she got back up on her feet, seemingly shook up from Jane trying to kill her.

Seeing how scared she was Welkin put his hands in view to show her he wasn't going to hurt her. He then stated calmly and in a soft voice "It's alright. You're going to be alright now." His words seemed to have a calming effect on her as she seemed to become a little less tense. Wanting to keep the conversation going he nudged Jack in the shoulder and told him "Ask her is she speaks any English."

Jack then relayed the question to the woman whom responded modestly with a stutter "Um...little bit." Her accent didn't sound German exactly. More likely that she came from a region in Eastern Europe.

"Is there anyone else inside?" asked Alicia.

"Yes...yes," the German mumbled.

"Can you tell them to come out?" she asked.

"You...not shoot? Right?" she questioned in English as best as she could. She was still a little worried that someone like Jane would shoot at them again as they exited the building.

"We won't shoot. You have my word," Welkin assured her.

The woman looked at Welkin not sure whether to believe him or not. She thought it over a few times before coming to a conclusion. From his looks and how he spoke, the young man seemed almost genuine. Maybe he meant what he was saying. With a deep sigh she turned towards the building and shouted _"Es ist in Ordnung. Ihr könnt jetzt raus." _Then out from the wall walked out about a dozen German soldiers. They looked like they were in the exact same condition as she did, all with their hands raised. They calmly walked out and formed a small line beside the German woman.

When they were all finished lining up. Welkin look over back to the main group of Squad 7 and ordered "Largo, Rosie. Take a few people and have these people situated. And keep Jane away from them, their prisoners of war now."

The two of them nodded and went on to gather a group to lead their new friends away. Welkin then turned over to Alicia and Jack to give them their orders. "Alicia, take Noce and Jane somewhere away from all of this. I'll deal with them later. Jack, take what's left of the group and search the building. I'll go and inform the Captain that we've taken the town hall via radio." They nodded in agreement and set out to follow their orders.

Welkin then left them and approached Homer and Ramsey who had just finished setting up the radio. He told them to make contact with Varrot and inform her that Squad 7 had succeeded.

* * *

German to English Translation

1\. _Sie haben durchbrochen! Die Gallians sind hier!_ \- They've broken through! The Gallians are here!

2\. _Es ist in Ordnung. Ihr könnt jetzt raus. _\- It's alright. You guys can come out now.

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	15. The Calm Before the Storm

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Western Vasel _

_1300 hours (1:00 pm)_

The Gallian forces had successfully retaken Western Vasel from the German forces guarding it. Thanks to Squad 7's efforts, they had managed to secure the German forces base of operations on that side of Vasel. With that secured they had a foothold on the city and soldiers in place to defend the Western end of the bridge in case of a German counterattack. While Squad 7 was striking at the heart of the enemy, Captain Varrot along with Lieutenants Faldio Landzaat of the Militia and Mary Read of the Regular Army had managed with great difficulty and struggle to demolish the German forces that were guarding the outskirts of the city. During this mission the Gallians had sustained heavy casualties with the main force having lost almost two hundred men while Squad 7 received no casualties whatsoever. The Nazis lost about three hundred and twenty-five soldiers with another two dozen taken prisoner while the rest of them fled across the river back to their lines on the other side. Though the Germans lost more men than the Gallians, the small size of the Gallian forces meant that their losses would take a greater toll on their ability to retake the rest of Vasel.

Varrot ordered the surviving soldiers to take a moment to relax and recuperate before the next operation. She also ordered for a few of their Scouts to set up in some of the buildings overlooking the river and on the bridge to set up an watch in case the Germans attempted to launch a counterattack. From her experience during the Great War, she knew that a counterattack was highly likely. From her experience during the Great War she knew that it was a common German tactic to launch a counterattack to try and retake a position that they had recently lost to the enemy. Most of the time the Germans were successful in retaking their position, though there were times in history when their attacks were unsuccessful and the defenders would be able to repel them.

Meanwhile, Varrot was inside her command tent that had just been recently set up within the courtyard to act as a kind of command center for the rest of battle. Inside there were various crates which held the necessary supplies. There were also two large wooden tables within the tent. One was placed on one side of the tent. It was being used to hold their radio equipment that was being used to contact High Command. Several operators sat at the table with headphones on listening to transmissions coming to and from High Command. The second table was located in the center of the room and was covered with various maps and reports that Varrot would use to help in the fighting in Vasel.

Welkin had been called in by Varrot to face punishment for his callous disregard for following the supposed plan during the battle. They stood on opposite ends of the table, Varrot glaring at Welkin with a look of disappointment which Welkin tried to avoid. But no matter how much he tried to avert his gaze, the intensity of her staring caused him to give it all up and look at her straight in the face. Welkin knew that she was probably going to give him hell for disobeying her. So he began to brace himself for the worst that she could throw at him.

"Lieutenant," she began with a snarl "Would you care to explain to me why you suddenly decided to disobey my direct orders?"

"Ma'am, I saw a way around the German defenses and decided to exploit it to my advantage. Our victory today was made possible because of this," explained Welkin, trying to express his opinion as best as he could without making her anymore angry.

"And yet you did it without thinking about informing me about it? We could have sent our entire force there and overwhelm the Germans that way. But instead, you decided to leave me in the dark. Do you have any idea how many men we lost in that charge? Their deaths could have been prevented had you just informed me of your plan," she scolded him.

Welkin took into heart what she had just said. It is true that a lot of Gallian soldiers from both the Regulars and the Militia were killed charging at the German lines. A lot of good people had died because of his decision not to inform Varrot of what he had discovered. Maybe if he had told her, they'd probably still be alive. Not all of them, but most of them. Welkin pushed that thought aside however. He knew that death was a part of human nature. There was nothing he could do for them now except make sure that their sacrifice was not made in vain. Stiffening his resolve, he straightened his posture and proclaimed "I understand ma'am. I'm not going to make any excuses. I'll accept whatever punishment you deem fit to give me. No questions asked."

Varrot closed her eyes and shook her head and gave a deep sigh. She then readjusted her glasses and looked once more at Welkin.

"I should be angry. I should be giving you a court marshal for disobeying a direct order," she admitted. "However, I'm not going to do that at all," she added.

Welkin just stood there, shocked by what he had just heard. _She isn't going to punish me? Why? _Out of everything that could have happened, he didn't expect Varrot to just let his actions slide. He thought she was going to kick him out of the Militia, court marshal him, hell he wouldn't even be surprised if she decided to put him in prison. So what made her decide to just ignore what had happened?

"You're strategy managed to help us in the long run. When you attacked the enemy command center, it threw their forces on this side of the river into chaos. That gave us the opportunity we needed to break through. If we had committed all of our forces towards breaching the front lines there was a large possibility that we would have failed. Your action cost us lives, but it may have saved many more in the process. However don't expect me to forget about this completely. I won't be so lenient the next time you do something like this," she explained.

Welkin just stood there and stated "Understood Captain. This won't happen again."

"Very well then. You're dismissed," said Varrot. Welkin gave her a salute and began to walk out of the tent before Varrot spoke again which caused him to stop and turn his head to face her once again. "And check up on Corporal Lawrence and Lieutenant Landzaat. Find out what progress they've made interrogating the prisoners. Once you're finished there, have one of them report back to me," she ordered.

Welkin gave a nod in affirmation and walked out of the tent. As he exited the tent he looked around him and saw how the Gallian forces had managed in a short time made this courtyard into their temporary base of operations. Surrounding Varrot's tent were about a dozen other tents of various sizes that were scattered all along the courtyard. These tents were being used as a temporary field hospital, armory, mess hall, and even an area for holding their recently acquired prisoners. Gallian soldiers were all around the tents, walking past them, and coming in and out of them. All of these laid in the shadow of the ruins of the town hall, which was positioned in the perfect position to shield the camp from enemy fire coming directly from the other bank.

Welkin made his way past the crowds of people strolling around and finally made his way towards the tent where the prisoners were being held. Two armed guards flanked the entrance on both sides followed by an additional four who were patrolling around the perimeter of the tent. These guys were in charge of making sure that the Germans didn't try to escape. The two guarding the entrance simply let him through. They were permitted to allow anyone inside as long as they weren't wearing the German uniform. They simply saluted Welkin as he strolled into the tent.

The inside of the tent was divided into two sections, divided by a makeshift wall of boxes with a pathway between them the size of a doorway. The area of the tent that Welkin was inside of looked more like a field hospital than a supposed prison. The Germans were either lying on beds or on wooden boxes, being attended to by nurses and doctors. They all had suffered various injuries from the explosion the destroyed much of the town hall. The various medical personnel were sent here to help treat their wounds and help stabilize some of them. Most of them were covered in bloody bandages in some area of their body. Others had their arms in slings or their legs were being placed in casts and were given crutches.

One of the doctors had noticed Welkin entering the tent. He stopped treating one of his patients, handing that responsibility over to one of his subordinates. He left the area he was in and wandered over to Welkin. Welkin took a good look at him. He was a man of about fifty years of age. His hair was brown with a few hints of gray distinguishing his age. His facial hair consisted of a beard and mustache that ran from one end of his face to the other. He wore a small pair of glasses and had a stethoscope around his neck. Most of his clothing was covered in a white doctors coat but Welkin could see that he wore light brown pants and shoes.

In his eyes Welkin could see the soul of a man who had seen countless people wounded and dead. And the many long, sleepless hours that he toiled to try and save each and every one of those poor devils. And many times he had to watch many of his patients die from blood loss, trauma, or some other injury. And each time he had to acknowledge that there was nothing more that he could do for them except notify their next of kin that their loved one has passed away.

When he got to Welkin the doctor extended his hand towards him which Welkin accepted with a firm handshake. "Lieutenant Gunther, I was notified by Captain Varrot that you would be coming. I'm Doctor Michael Werner, the head doctor here," he introduced.

"How are they? The soldiers I mean," inquired Welkin.

Doctor Werner took a quick look back at his patients before returning his glance to Welkin and explained calmly "Their lucky, considering how damaging the explosion was to the town hall. No major life threatening injuries. Most have suffered broken limbs, deep gashes, or some other internal injury. But other than that they'll be okay in a few months give or take. When they transfer them to a POW camp I'll go with them to monitor their recovery and help them get back on their feet."

Welkin breathed a deep sigh of relief. "That's great then. I was worried a little bit there that things were worse here. I'm glad they have someone looking over them," he admitted.

A light chuckle managed to escape from the doctors lips. And a small smile managed to appear on his face. The first smile he had managed to crack in a while now. "I'm a doctor Lieutenant. It's my job to treat my patients to the fullest of my abilities. But it's nice to hear someone else voice their concerns for others well being. It's a good trait in a person, and by extension a commanding officer such as you," complemented the doctor.

Welkin smiled at the compliment Doctor Werner gave him. To hear someone praise him about having at least one good trait for a leader helped ease his mind on whether or not he was ready for the position he was already in. Suddenly he remember why he was here in the first place. He asked Doctor Werner "Do you know where Corporal Lawrence and Lieutenant Landzaat are currently? I need to speak with them."

Doctor Werner pointed towards the opposite end of the tent that was separated by the wall of wooden boxes. Welkin simply walked towards the other end while Doctor Werner went back to treating the German soldiers. Welkin moved past the various nurses and doctors that were bustling through the tent as they monitored the German soldiers conditions. He managed to get past them and make his way into the room where Jack and Faldio were in.

The room was substantially smaller than the vast room where the other prisoners were kept. But it was large enough to fill the purposes of interrogation. A single lamp hung in the middle of the room, lighting up the majority of it with the absence of the corners of the room being dark. In the center of the room was a wooden table with three chairs. Two were on one end while the third was on the other side. Faldio sat on the end with the two chairs, his back facing towards Welkin. Jack stood in one of the corners, the darkness covering up his face. On the other end sat the woman who was the first to surrender at the town hall. The woman had taken her helmet off and made her short red hair visible. Her face was cleaned up and the cut on her forehead had been stitched up, Doctor Werner's work no doubt. She was simply siting on the chair with her head slightly down and her gaze as well. When she heard Welkin approaching she seemed to raise her head up just a little bit.

Jack nodded to Welkin to take the empty chair next to Faldio. Welkin followed his directive and pulled up the chair and sat down. "Thank God you showed up. We were getting nowhere with her. And her apparent limited knowledge of the English language hasn't helped much either," admitted Jack.

"She's refused to answer any of our questions. No matter how many times we ask her," added Faldio. Welkin looked at them puzzled and asked "If she's being so uncooperative then why did you guys want me here?"

"Because she told us, um...what did she say exactly Jack?" replied Faldio as he looked to Jack for an answer.

"I believe her exact words were 'I will only talk to the Gallian Lieutenant. The one who let me and my comrades live'," he explained.

Welkin blinked at the answer as he realized that the 'Gallian Lieutenant' she was speaking about was him. He quickly summarized that the reason that they brought him in here was so that the woman would open up and finally talk to them willingly. Though Welkin didn't like being put on the spot like that, he knew that this way was the only one that they had if they were going to get some answers.

"Alright then, what do you guys know so far?" he asked.

"Though she's been silent most of the time she did manage to at least tell us her name: Katya Purgova," explained Faldio. "And from the patch on her right arm, we know that she's Russian," he added. Welkin eyed the patch that was sewn upon her right arm, right where Faldio said it was. The patch resembled the flag of the old Russian Empire before it became the Soviet Union. It consisted of shield like emblem that was colored white with a blue cross on it that resembled an 'x' with the letters 'ROA' above the patch. Soldiers that were recruited into the _Wehrmacht_, their uniform was given a patch which displayed the province that they were from. In this case, Katya's had the patch given to Russians living in their far Eastern provinces, and they called themselves the Russian Liberation Army, a group of Russians under German command seeking to destroy the Communists in Russia and bring Russia into the Germans fold.

Welkin knew that though people normally called the people from Germania 'Germans', that was hardly the truth. Though there were people in the nation that were true Germans, it's population was mostly consisted of different former nationalities such as Poles, Czechs, Norwegians, Ukrainians, even Russians and Frenchmen. The Nazis didn't belong to a single people. They were an ideology that allowed multiple groups of nationalities to join them. Each country or region the Nazis conquered they converted that conquered nation into a province. They kept the name of that country as the name of the province and an individual was sent to become the German governor called a Viceroy which was tasked to govern the new province. What happened after that was unknown to Welkin but he always assumed that the Nazis simply made their rule known upon the native people. He figured that talking to Katya would probably give him some more information on the subject.

"Alright, I'll ask her some questions. Jack, translate what I say back to her," he said to Jack, noting that his vast literary skills would come in handy.

"You want me to tell her in German or Russian?" ha asked, wondering which seemed right in their current situation.

"Russian. I think she's more versed in that then German," he answered.

Jack turned to face Katya. He began to speak to her in a calm voice. The same one he used to speak to her before. "Alright, I'm going to ask you a series of questions. Will you be willing to answer them?" he asked. Jack then relayed the question to her in Russian. After Jack had finished, Katya answered the question with a simple nod. Seeing this as a sign that they were making progress, Welkin began the interrogation with a personal question. "I want to get to know you better. Where are you from exactly?" he asked.

After Jack translated the question back to her, she began to answer in Russian. While she was talking, Jack translated what she was saying back to Welkin and Faldio in English. "She says she's from Rostov-on-Don. It's an industrial city located next to the Don River. Her home was part of the areas of Russia that was ceded over to the Germans after the Great War had ended. As a result of this she says that she spent most of my life under Nazi rule," Jack translated.

"What was life like under Nazi rule?" asked Faldio, seeing an opportunity like Welkin to find out more about life under the Nazi Reich.

Once again Jack translated the question back to her and she began to speak in Russian with Jack translating what she said. "She says that at first things weren't very different. People just went about their everyday lives. Kaiser Charles was very nice to us. But when his son Byzantium took the throne, things changed. He sent soldiers into Rostov, occupying the city. They became a pretty common sight in Rostov, with their soldiers patrolling through the streets everywhere like little ants. Next came the _SS_. They began about arresting any 'undesirables' they could find, and executed anyone who resisted. The Darcsens who used to live in the city were either forced into the ghettos they had set up or were placed on board trains and were never seen again. The _Gestapo_ followed close behind, replacing the local police. They sent their agents onto the street and inside the factories, watching their every move. They set up harsh laws and enforced them thoroughly. Anyone who spoke out against them suddenly disappeared the next day. They would later be found dead. Hung from a street lamp by the neck in view of everyone with a sign nailed to their chest that said 'I'm a traitor to our great Kaiser and to the Imperial Germanian Reich and deserve this fate that has befallen upon me'," translated Jack.

Welkin and Faldio listened in horror as Katya told her story. They knew that life in Germania was harsh, but from what Katya was describing it seemed more like Hell on Earth. The both of them wondered how on Earth anyone could ever live in there. Being watched constantly, never being allowed to speak your mind, and wondering if that knock on your door was the _Gestapo_ coming to arrest you and take you away.

Katya continued to tell her story with Jack translating for her. "They had to learn to adapt to the occupation. They learned to speak the German and English language and learned their customs in school, only speaking their native language when they were among their own people or in their home province. Since they were no longer part of Russia, the Nazis forced them to learn about history, or at least their version of history where they portray themselves as the saviors of Europa. They filled the radio waves endlessly with propaganda and had their posters planted all over town. Factories were converted to produce materials for the Nazi war machine. Factories that made pencils began making Ragnite filled shells for artillery guns, and ones that made tractors began making tanks instead. Many people ended up being conscripted into the armed forces. Their families could only watch in sorrow as their sons and daughters were torn away from them and placed on trucks bound for military bases. Though they accepted the fact that these people were their new rulers, they also quickly realized the Rostov they knew no longer existed," he translated.

"Is that what happened to you? Were you conscripted as well?" asked Welkin with Jack translating, curious if the same fate had befallen among her like so many other in her city.

Katya looked reluctant to answer that question. It seemed like she was afraid what their reaction would be when she told them. But after a few tense seconds of silence she reluctantly answered the question in Russian. "She says no. She wasn't conscripted. In fact she says that it was the exact opposite. She says that she volunteered to join," translated Jack.

Fadio's eyes opened wide with surprise. He seemed completely aghast by what he had just heard Katya say. _Did I hear her right? She volunteered? _he thought. After hearing all that she went through during the Nazi occupation of her hometown, he wondered what could have possibly possessed her to join those bastards.

"Am I hearing this right? Why on earth would you want to join these people willingly? Even after everything they had done to you and your people?" asked Faldio, growing increasingly more hostile by the second which seemed to frighten Katya a little bit. When she didn't answer him he rose from his seat and slammed his hand against the table. "Come on! Answer me!" he exclaimed. Jack moved from his corner and pulled back Faldio a little bit from the table in an attempt to calm him down.

"Faldio, leave. Welkin and I can handle this," urged Jack. Faldio stood there for a few seconds before stomping off out of the room and by extension the tent.

Katya seemed to calm down at the absence of Faldio's presence. Welkin decided to continue the conversation now that Faldio was gone. "Don't worry. Things are going to be alright," he assured her. "Just tell me exactly why did you chose to join the _Wehrmacht_?" he suggested.

Even though Jack translated the question to her, she still seemed reluctant to answer. Katya took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair. When she was finished she continued to tell her story in Russian with Jack translating what she said. "She says that in February, a Nazi Prince, his wife, and a few of his officers came to Rostov to view how the factories were performing. One of the factories he was visiting was the one that she was working. Things were going well until the attack," translated Jack.

_"Attack?"_ wondered Welkin, wondering where she was going.

Jack continued translating "She says that on the day that the prince showed up, the Red Army launched an attack to try and retake the city. They fired their artillery at the city, not caring whether the casualties from the strikes were Nazi soldiers or civilians. They bombed the town, wanting to wipe us all out. When they finally stopped, they began to cross the river in boats. When they reached the other shore, they began a killing spree. They started shooting at civilians in what they called 'cleansing the streets of Fascists'. They managed to reach the outskirts of her factory. To her it seemed like it was the end. But suddenly German troops, who fought like they had never seen before appeared out of nowhere and began to route the Soviets. These soldiers weren't the _SS_, but some kind of military force under the Prince's command. They quickly rallied behind the Prince and managed to drive the Soviets out of Rostov. After the battle was over, the Prince gave this huge speech in front of the people. In it he managed to inspire them to believe in themselves again and help defend their home. After that a whole bunch of them decided to volunteer and fight under the Prince's banner," translated Jack.

Welkin took a few moments to allow all that information to sink in. When he believed that he understood everything he got up from the chair and began to walk out. When he saw that Jack wasn't coming he looked to him and asked "You're not coming?"

"Nah, I'll stay here and ask her some follow-up questions then report back to Varrot. You go on ahead without me," he replied. Welkin simply accepted that response and left the tent for Jack to do his work. He wanted to stay and help but he decided not to. Mainly due to the fact that there was still one more thing today that he had to take care of.

* * *

"What in the world possessed you to shoot them!?" exclaimed Alicia. She had brought Noce and Jane to another part of the camp that was located right on the banks of the river. Isara had come along with her since she had finished working on the _Edelweiss_ for today. The river bank was elevated about ten feet below the street level with a large pair of stone stairs that led back up to the street level. From there they could see the whole length of the Great Vasel Drawbridge. The bridge must have been at least three hundred yards long. The bridge could retract by bending the two sections of the bridge upward by using hinges place within the middle of the two sections. This turned the two long sections of the bridge into four smaller sections that could bend upward in order to allow ships to past through unhindered. The reason that Alicia had brought them here was to address them about their actions during the attack on the town hall. Mainly Jane's action of trying to shoot the German soldiers as they were surrendering.

"The better question is why did Noce tried to stop me? Those Nazi bastards had what was coming to them?" Jane shot back, clearly insulted by the question.

"I stopped you because it was the right thing to do," countered Noce.

"Don't give me that bullshit! This is war!" shouted Jane "The only thing that's right here is that our job is to kill Nazis. And it doesn't matter how we do it!"

Jane was about to continue on with her ranting when she was cut off by another voice. "That's not exactly true here" that voice corrected. The four of them turned around to see Welkin coming towards them. Alicia had invited him over to help calm down the situation once he was finished with his interrogation of the German prisoners. She had hoped that he could talk some sense into Jane and try to curb her new violent nature.

"You're right on one thing: In order for us to win this war we have to fight the Nazis. And that means either we kill them or they kill us. But that doesn't mean we have the right to kill them senselessly," clarified Welkin as he joined the group. He thought that some reason would help calm her down but it didn't seem to work as she instantly went back to her rant.

"Do you honestly think those guys across the river are going to be kind and caring with us? Do you think that they're going to be merciful and compassionate?" questioned Jane pointing at the half of Vasel that was under German control. Out of all the things that Jane knew about the German army, those two features were something that they were surely lacking. They were known throughout history to have killed POW's and eliminating entire enemy forces and leaving not one of them alive to tell the tale.

"That doesn't give you the right to stoop to their level. Doing the same thing they do makes you no better than them," reprimanded Welkin.

"Don't go telling me that I have no right. I lost everything to these Reich bastards. My flower shop, my home, everything," she reminded him.

What she was saying was true. When the German dive-bombers hit Bruhl, her flower shop was one of the buildings that was destroyed. She was outside her shop when the bomb hit. The blast wave from the explosion knocked her off her feet knocking her out while several shards of glass flew past her, causing several cuts to her skin. Just before she lost consciousness she could see how her store, her pride and joy, was now up in flames. When she woke up a few days later in a hospital, that image was still mentally scarred inside of her head. And inside she no longer felt any other emotion other than the seething hatred she had now developed for the Nazis. She vowed on that day that all of the pain the Nazis brought on her, she would deliver onto them tenfold. She would savor their screams and take pleasure in their cries as she would mow them down with withering machine gun fire. That was the reason that she joined the Militia in the first place. And she wasn't going to let anyone stand in her way, especially a fellow member of Bruhl who just happened to be her commanding officer and the son of General Gunther himself.

Welkin countered with "It doesn't matter. Gallia follows the Geneva Convention. And it says clearly says that-" Before Welkin could continue he heard a series of thumping noises coming from the German controlled side of the city. Everyone else seemed to realize it and looked towards that side of the river wondering what that sound meant. The thumps were then replaced by a whistle that seemed to get louder and louder as if it was falling to the ground. Welkin's eyes widened as he finally realized what those two sounds meant. "Mortars! Get Down!" shouted Welkin as they all dived towards the ground. Welkin laid next to Isara and placed his arm over her head to shield her from the blasts. As the whistling seemed like it couldn't get any louder, the shells from the German mortars struck the ground all around them. The explosions sent dirt and debris twenty feet into the air and impacted at both the riverbank and inside the city. It went on for several minutes. But for them each one of those minutes felt like an eternity.

When the explosions finally subsided, they slowly got back up on their feet, dusting the dirt and debris that had fallen on them off. At the same time they looked around to see the damage they had inflicted. From what they could tell, it seemed that the shells managed to miss them and struck only the open ground and some of the buildings on the street level, causing massive holes and craters all around them. They were surprised by their luck that they were still alive.

"Hey guys," shouted a distant voice. They turned to see Jack, Faldio, Largo, and Rosie rushing towards them. Welkin and the others were glad to see that the four of them had managed to survive the mortar strike, they just hoped that the rest of Squad 7 was just as fortunate. When both groups finally meet Alicia was the first to speak. "Are you guys okay?" she asked.

"A little shaken up, but otherwise okay. A lot of the guys weren't so lucky. The camp itself took a few hits too," answered Jack.

"Welks! Look, over there!" cried Isara, pointing at the bridge. The others turned in the direction where she was pointing and immediately saw what she was seeing. And what they saw was a large column of German tanks beginning to cross the bridge. They could also faintly see a large contingent of infantry moving alongside them. It seemed that the mortar strike was intended to soften up the Gallian forces and help pave the way for a German counterattack. And from what they could see, the sheer number of troops they were sending across would be enough to drive the weakened Gallian forces from the city entirely.

"Aw, shit. That doesn't look good," admitted Rosie.

"Well that definitely doesn't look like the Vasel Welcoming Committee," added Jack, still in shock by what he just saw.

"We need to regroup with the rest of the squad. And fast before those jackals reach the other side," suggested Largo. Before anyone could say anything else, Welkin ordered "Alright split up, find the rest of the squad, and proceed to the bridgehead. Move people!" Everyone suddenly bolted as they tried to carry out those orders. What Largo said was right, if the Gallians didn't rally soon, they would lose Vasel...again.

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	16. The Nazis Strike Back

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_"The German counterattack had caught us by surprise, but not unprepared. We had managed to devise some sort of plan for dealing with this kind of situation. Unfortunately this plan was once again one that was devised by a certain Gallian General we all knew and hated: Damon. The son-of-a-bitch ordered the Militia to hold the bridgehead while his Regulars stayed nice and safe in their camp that was protected behind the town hall. There are times today when I wonder how the hell he managed to stay a General, incompetent as he was. Either way, putting aside my disliking of the man, we all had to hold the bridgehead against the Nazis, or Vasel would fall. No easy task. The enemy was bearing on us with everything they had, and they had a lot in. The Militia squads were already depleted from the initial assault on the city except Squad 7 and Faldio's Squad 1. Read and what was left of her company stayed at the camp despite her objections about helping us with the defense. She couldn't even loan us any of the new tanks that they gave her. Still, at least we had the Edelweiss. Having it along raised our odds of survival from nil to slim. So officially we were heavily outgunned, completely outnumbered, and severally outclassed. Just another day in the life of a Gallian Militiaman I guess." -Jack Lawrence_

_Boom! _A German King Tiger tank fired another shot at the Gallians defending the Western bridgehead. The shell let out a kind of shriek as it blazed through the air. The shell was intended for one of the _Edelweiss_ but the German gunner was probably off his aim just a little bit because the shell instead struck the ground mere inches from the tank's treads. The force of the explosion caused the tank to rock a bit, probably shaking up the crew inside a little bit too. It fired back at the Germans, but it had the same result as the last one. The shell struck the sloped frontal armor, deflecting the shot upward in the air with it's impact causing very little damage to the tank itself.

The battle over the bridge itself had become somewhat of a stalemate early on. The Gallian Militia and took cover behind the piles of rubble and some of the tank ruins that were scattered across the bridge. Leftovers from the initial German conquest of Vasel. The _Edelweiss_ was behind them, taking pot shots at the advancing German forces and then retreating back into cover before they would have a chance to return fire. The pathway across the bridge was very wide, about the width of four city roads lined up side by side. The Germans placed four King Tiger tanks in a line to act as the spearhead of their big push. They acted as a shield for the infantry advancing behind them, who continually peaked out of cover to fire on the Gallian infantry. Their tanks were advancing at a snails pace. They knew that at long range the Gallian armor wouldn't be able to knock them out. But if they got close enough, they had the capability of doing so. So they stayed far behind, firing their long barreled cannons at them in hopes of knocking out our tank from afar before rushing in and overwhelming the remaining forces. Their hull mounted and coaxial machine guns were unleashing wave after unending wave of gunfire. Spaying bullets all over the Gallian positions. It was a battle of attrition, but it seemed that the odds of victory were on the German's side.

**Jack's POV**

I fired a burst from by BAR at the krauts. From this distance I had to set up the BAR on it's bipod, allowing me to steady my aim. Everything seems to be going to hell. I know I've been in worst situations but I couldn't see a way to beat this. If the Germans kept this up, they'll be rolling over out corpses within half an hour. I look again down the sights of my weapon and line up on a lone Nazi that's been firing from the side of the German tank on the far left. Slowing my breathing, I line up the sights directly with his head. With a simple tug on the trigger, the BAR empties the last of it's ammo on the German. He appears to stumble a bit before finally falling hard upon the ground.

A soft smile appeared on my face. I had never been one who had any love for the Nazis. These bastards are nothing more than a bunch a genocidal, organized murderers. Though I'm aware that many people within Germania no longer support the Nazi regime. But those within the aristocracy, military, government, even those within the blasted _SS_. They bought their own tickets to Hell, and people like me were the people who would lay out the welcome mats for them.

Suddenly I saw one of the German tanks begin to line up another shot. And from the direction it was traversing and the angle of the gun, it looks like it was going to be aiming right for me. Instinctively, I roll over and crouch behind the pile of bricks, dust, and other debris that I was using for cover. I don't think that this will offer much protection against a tank shell, but it was better than standing out in the open with a target painted on my chest. For some reason I have on idea, I peak my head out to see the tank fire it's salvo. I waited for the blast, knowing it was aimed for me. But instead, the shot flies over my head, so close that I could feel the air ripples though my helmet and the whistling as it flew by.

I look back behind me to see a group of Gallian Militiamen from Squad 4 and the rubble they were using from cover destroyed in the hit from the tank shell. It must have been a high explosive shot because the size of the blast was immense. Rubble flew everywhere with much of it being shot upwards into the air. I tucked my head in to my chest and clenched my helmet to my head as the rubble came crashing back towards the ground. A few of them hit me on their way down, but it didn't do much to wound me. Just pound me up a little bit.

Once the falling rubble had subsided, I raise my head to take a look at the position that was hit. I could only gape in horror by what I was seeing. Their cover had been completely torn apart. Whatever soldiers that were there were either vaporized by the blast or laid across the battlefield. A few were already dead, with some of their limbs separated completely from their bodies and strewn across the ground as if they were rag dolls. Some were covered in blood, crying in agony as they writhed on the pavement like babies. Their cries silenced as machine gun bullets ripped through their flesh. The cries were replaced by utter silence, and they laid upon where they died, their faces frozen with pain.

That look...that expression...those bodies...I hadn't seen that since...since Alaska.

**Jack's POV Ends**

_Flashback: Two Years Earlier / Alaska, USA / Spring, 1933 / _

_In a forest somewhere in Alaska, American soldiers were lying in a shallow trench, weapons ready. Their olive-green uniforms and green M1 helmets made them stand out to the brown dirt and mud mixture that they were hiding in. The air was thick with tension and worry as the U.S. soldiers scanned the woods in front of them, searching for any sign of an enemy advance._

_These soldiers were part of a company told to hold a small hill which was crucial for control of the region. They had managed to dig up a small trench system around the western side of the hill. The trench was merely just a long mound of dirt and sandbags that were so low you had to either crouch or lie on your stomach in order to use it for protection, which these men were going to need. They had just been warned that the Soviets were going to mount an infantry charge to try and take back the hill. Intel wasn't sure on the exact number of soldiers they would be facing but they estimated it would be around one hundred and fifty to about half a thousand. The Americans only had about one hundred and fifty men on the hill, but each one of them was armed to the teeth._

_The Americans were armed with either the M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle which held about eight .30-06 rounds, or the Thompson M1A1 sub-machine gun which held a magazine size of twenty .45 rounds. This gun was the U.S. Armies modified version of the famous gun used by the Mafia. They took out the forward grip and added a compensator to the muzzle of the gun to reduce recoil. The gun could either carry a twenty round magazine or a fifty round drum, though most U.S. soldiers preferred to use the twenty round version since it was easier to carry._

_For heavy weapons they had three M1919 Browning medium machine guns placed upon tripods. These were placed behind the soldiers in well protected foxholes. This allowed the machine gunners to provide adequate protection and suppressive fire to the rest of the soldiers. These guns were modified with an air-cooled barrel to help improve their rate of fire to about 600 rounds per minute. Each of these machine gun positions had a sniper with them with a Springfield bolt-action rifle with a sniper scope and held five .30-06 rounds. These snipers would use them to make precision kills on Soviet officers and soldiers who were about to throw grenades. The Americans also had radio contact with a mortar team not far from their current position. If they were in danger of being overrun, they could call in artillery support to blast the Russians to teeny-tiny pieces. Then finally, each soldier had a bayonet attached to their belt for close-quarter combat along with about two Mk 2 grenades, called 'Pineapples' due to the way they were shaped. This was in case the Reds got to close to their lines._

_The Americans were ready. Gone were the soldiers that were unprepared and caught off guard in the initial Soviet onslaught. Gone were the men and women who ran while the Russians seized most of Alaska and were on the verge of invading the U.S. mainland Commonwealth States. Here were the new, trained, and invigorated Americans ready to oust the Soviets from their homes. Here were the soldiers of America's war machine, armed and equipped to take on the Soviet 'Conscript Army'._

_In one area of the line, Lieutenant Jack Lawrence had put on his helmet and took one final check on his Thompson before loading in a drum magazine and cocking back the handle to load the first shot into the chamber. When he was about to take aim like the rest of these people, the soldier on his right nudged him in the arm as if to get his attention. Jack turned his head right to see a young male Darcsen-American soldier about his age. He had his dark-blue hair hidden beneath his helmet but there were still some locks of hair that were visible. Tied around his arm was a bandanna which had the traditional Darcsen pattern on it. To the Darcsen people, each one of their people wears a piece of clothing with that pattern on it. It brings a sense of pride to their people. That was one of the things that they like about America. Here there was no segregation, they were equals in society. To them this nation felt like the place they belonged. This was their homeland, not Europe._

_This Darcsens name was Private Conrad Smith. Despite having their last names forcibly taken from them in Europe, in America they were encouraged to have last names as a way of showing the world that they were people too, and that they were proud of their heritage. Conrad came from the Canadian commonwealth state of Quebec. His family runs a small farm just outside the city limits. He volunteered to join the fighting here when he managed to reach the age of 16. In the United States, any man or woman is allowed to volunteer for the Armed Forces at the age of 16, though there are instances where they allowed people in at the age of 15. Conrad had already been in a few battles so this one didn't seem like much of a problem._

_He noticed that he had gotten Jack's attention and asked him curiously "Hey Lieutenant, ever been on the receiving end of a Commie charge?"_

_Jack simply gave him a smirk and replied "Not really. First one actually."_

_"Hah. I wasn't expecting that from the 'Hero of Anchorage'," commented Conrad. Jack simply nodded his head in amusement. The title 'Hero of Anchorage' was something people decided to give him after his heroic deeds he performed at Anchorage during the siege there. It was the beginning of the war, and he had just been made a Corporal. A Russian poison gas strike wiped out most of the town's garrison. Only Jack and a handful of soldiers remained. He was the only officer left so he took command. When a large force of Russian soldiers and tanks showed up to secure the town, Jack and his troops hit them with hit-and-run tactics, ambushes, and sniper fire. The battle raged throughout the night, as seemingly endless wave of Soviets poured into Anchorage. Jack and his men were running dangerously low on ammo, and had become trapped in the remains of an old factory. But when the sun finally began to rise, and all hope seemed lost, the Soviets saw a large U.S convoy approaching, more than they could handle in their weakened numbers. They retreated, leaving the city to the Americans. _

_Jack and his troops survived the battle, and became heroes to the public for their heroism and bravery that led them to succeed in the face of impossible odds. Jack was the most known about after that day. A young Corporal, who with a handful of men, defended a city against a horde of Communists. He became a kind of folk hero, and the poster boy for the war effort. As recognition for his leadership, General George S. Patton himself awarded him the Medal of Honor and promoted Jack to the rank of Lieutenant. Now here he was, over a year later leading a company of men and women against another seemingly impossible mission._

_"Have you heard what the Russians are doing? Something called Order 227?" inquired Conrad, curious if Jack had heard of it._

_"Aye, I have," he answered. Jack had heard of the new order that their Premier Joseph Stalin had recently issued o his troops on the front lines. It was known for its official slogan of 'Not one step backwards'. By order of the Premier, no soldier was to retreat without an order issued from their superiors. If the soldiers did, then they would run into the 'blocking detachments'. These men were loyal Soviet soldiers who would shoot at any 'cowards' or 'traitors' as they tried to retreat back to friendly lines. So now the Soviet soldiers had only two choices: Either die by American bullets, or from their own._

_"That just sounds mess up. Why would Stalin issue something like that?" asked Conrad._

_"Do I look like an expert on Communist thinking Conrad?" asked Jack mockingly. When Conrad simply gave him a shrug, Jack continued with "Why is he doing it? I guess he's just desperate for a way to turn the tide of the war and somehow in his mind this is the only way that makes sense."_

_Jack had met Stalin before. During his time during his father's tour of Europe as an ambassador for the United States. Stalin was the mastermind behind Lenin's revolution and establishment of the Soviet Union. When Lenin died in 1924, Stalin took over as head of the Soviet Union and gave himself the title of Premier. While Lenin helped forge the Soviet Union's beginning, when Stalin took over he became obsessed with power and turned the Soviet Union into the harsh dictatorship it was today._

_Before he could think about it any further about the subject, he could hear the sounds of breaking twigs and running footsteps. It seemed that every other American on the hill had heard about it since they all suddenly had their weapons drawn and ready. They were almost about to fire when they saw a figure come into view. It wasn't a Commie, but an American soldier with a rifle in hand who was running hastily towards their lines as if the devil himself was right behind him._

_He was a scout that Jack sent ahead to scout the enemy force and return back to relay to him what he saw. From how fast he was running, Jack summarized that the Reds must be close by. The rest of his troops held their fire till he got to their lines. He took cover in the trench next to Jack and Conrad. Once he managed to get to cover he started gasping for air as the running had managed to wear him out._

_In between gasps, he managed to blurt out to Jack "Reds...lots of them...right behind me...on their way."_

_"Yeah I kind of figured that part out by myself thank you," informed Jack. He then turned over to his men and announced "Alright, lock n' load boys. The Red horde is coming straight at us. Make your shots count, use your sights, and we may just survive today. And remember, nobody fires until I give the order. Understood?"_

_He was answered by over a hundred men and women shouting back in unison "Sir, yes sir!" Soon all of their eyes began to gaze through the tree lines in search of any sign of the Russian charge. For several minutes they saw nothing until a sound suddenly broke the silence. As the seconds passed by, the sound grew louder and closer towards them. Then over a small ridge, they finally came face to face with their adversaries. Out from behind the ridge came hundreds of Russian soldiers charging straight at them, yelling a battle cry at the top of their lungs. Jack took notice on the sheer number of infantry they had gathered in order to carry out this charge. 'Hit the enemy with overwhelming numbers, classic Russian tactic', he thought._

_Most of the Soviets were dressed in their usual dull brown uniforms with a field cap of the same color. Only a few of their soldiers seemed to have a steel helmet on. The one in the front was an officer, most likely a Commissar. He had a Tokarev pistol in one hand, and the Soviet flag tied to a long stick in the other one. He seemed to be the one encouraging the others to follow him. As for armaments, many of them were armed with Mosin-Nagant bolt-action rifles with a bayonet attached to it with the remainder of their troops carrying PPSH-41 sub machine guns._

_They charged forward, no regard for their well being, knowing that this was most likely a suicide mission given by their superiors. Knowing that if they ran back that they would be put to death by their own comrades. Their only hope for survival was to at least go forward and try to take this position from the defending Americans._

_The American's held their fire per Jack's orders, waiting for the right moment to act. As the Russians drew ever closer to their positions, Jack didn't give an order. The soldiers were becoming more and more tense. If they didn't fire soon, the Russians would be right on top of them and they would be slaughtered. And as each second passed by, the fear inside each of them began to well up inside of them and rise up._

_"Steady boys, hold your fire," said Jack in an attempt to calm the men. This did little to help however as they all still remained very tense, fingers hovering gently over the triggers of their weapons. "Hold, hold," he repeated his point._

_By now the Russians were within two hundred yards from their trenches and were getting close to the base of the hill. Trying to knock some sense into his Lieutenant, Conrad nudged him in the shoulder again and noted "I think we've held fire long enough here sir. If we hold fire any longer than they're going to be right on top of us!"_

_ When he got no response, he waited a few more seconds before shouting in his ear "Sir! Sir!" But Jack couldn't hear him. He just stood laid there frozen in place. The battle of Anchorage had left a deep scar within him mentally. Never before that battle had he seen so many dead. Their bodies all mangled, blown apart, and so many other gruesome ways that he never could have imagined. Now here he was about to kill another insane amount of Russians again. So many kids, people his age gunned down in front of him by his hand. How could he still be doing this again? He joined to be a soldier, to achieve his childhood dream, protect his home, even be a hero. He was completely unaware of the horrors of war that would scar him for life.__Conrad's cries were muffled by Jack who was now lost in the depths of his traumatized mind. He could faintly hear his words now. "Sir!? Sir, what do we do? Sir!" he exclaimed._

**Present Day**

"Sir!? Sir! What do we do Sir? Sir!" these words brought Jack back to reality from one of his flashbacks. He searched around and found himself being shaken by Private Oscar Bielert, one of their snipers. He had taken cover behind the same cover that Jack was using and noticed that he was dazing out. When he was asking him what they should do, he got nothing but a blank stare from him. Out of ideas, he grabbed him by his duster and began violently shaking him, hoping to knock him back into reality.

"Okay, okay, you can let go of me now Private," ordered Jack, now having regained control of his senses. Oscar, realizing that he was still clutching Jack's duster, let go of him and grabbed his sniper rifle that was still slung over his shoulder. "So what do we do now?" he asks, keeping his head down to avoid the incoming machine gun fire coming from the King Tigers.

Jack looked at him puzzled with his request. "Why are you asking me? Your Lieutenant's over there," he questioned pointing at the _Edelweiss_ which had just finished firing another shot at the enemy before retreating back to cover.

"I'm not running all the way over there, dodging all these bullets flying all around me," explained Oscar. Jack took a few moments to ponder what he just said before understanding what he saying. If he tried to get to Welkin by running he would have most likely gunned down by the advancing Nazi soldiers. He surveyed the area around him and saw Largo and Rosie taking cover behind a large pile of rubble on the other side of the bridge. Rosie was firing a BAR she had managed to get her hands on while Largo had a rifle instead of the Lancaar he usually carried.

Jack knew that he had to reach them so that they could at least come up with a plan together. But he still had a small problem. The King Tigers that were slowly advancing towards them were still blasting away at them with cannons and machine gun fire. Now the commanders of each of those tanks were standing through the top turret hatch and firing away with the turret mounted MG42. Jack wasn't worried about the bullets coming from the hull and coaxial machine guns. But those guys firing away at him from on top of the turrets could hit him more accurately and were more likely to kill him.

But he had Oscar with him, and that helped give him a plan. He looked over to Oscar and told him "Use your rifle and take out one of those gunners. Once you take out one of them I'll run as fast as I can towards the next piece of cover. We keep doing this until I get to Largo and Rosie. Got it?" Oscar nodded in acknowledgment as he took his rifle and loaded a fresh clip of bullets into the magazine. He then placed the butt of his rifle against his shoulder as he looked through the scope to line up a target. From the magnifying lens he was looking through, he was lining up the crosshairs upon the tank machine gunner on the far left of the line of tanks. Oscar calmly steadied his breathing as to not throw off his aim, and with a slight pressure on the trigger the rifle fired a single shot that landed squarely between the gunners eyes. The force of the impact sent him backwards before he slumped forward, disappearing back through the tank hatch.

"Go sir, now!" yelled Oscar as he loaded the rifle for another shot. Without a moment to lose he got to his feet and dashed forward towards the first piece of cover he could see. He charged as fast as he could, trying his best to not get hit by the German bullets whizzing by his head as the Germans simply fired at what they saw as a Gallian Militiaman who had leaped blindly out of cover. As Jack was rushing he kept hoping that that he would be lucky enough to not be killed by his plan which seemed crazy now that he was actually doing it. When he was within a few feet of the piece of cover he instinctively leaped forward, landing on his side right behind it. He then slowly got back up, kneeling behind the pile of rubble. Jack peaked his head up and managed to catch a glimpse of Oscar sniping another gunner in the line along with a second one a few seconds later.

Once again, Jack got back on his feet and ran towards the next piece of cover, this time it was the next one that Largo and Rosie were behind. He had managed to make within a few yards of them before an explosion directly behind him sent him flying forward, landing only directly behind the two. In his mad rush towards the two, he failed to notice one of the King Tigers taking aim at him with it's 88mm main cannon. The turret of the tank slowly traversed as it tried to keep up with the running American. Thankfully it fired a second too late, landing directly behind Jack. The blast managed to daze him and give him a few cuts and bruises, but not kill him. If The tank had managed to fire at the right moment, Jack would have been most likely killed in the ensuing blast.

As for Jack himself, he was slowly getting back on his feet due to being knocked down from the sudden explosion.

_"I'll say this: I was not expecting that explosion at all. I figured that he tanks would simply fire their machine guns at me but I didn't think that they would have the gall to shoot at me with a shell from their cannon. The fact that it missed surprised me too. I didn't know whether at that moment I was either incredibly lucky or that someone up in Heaven was looking out for me. Trying to get back up I was completely dazed. The sounds of battle seemed to be muffled and everything appeared to be moving very slowly around me. For I moment it seemed like I was in one of those old war movies my father and I used to go to. Thankfully someone's voice managed to help bring me back to reality and back into the present situation." -Jack Lawrence_

"Hey, Yankee. You still breathing?" came the gruff voice of Largo Potter as he helped the dazed Jack back onto his feet. He then guided him towards their cover and laid him down beside it, just between the two of them, making sure he was out of the way of enemy fire. He and Rosie may not like him that much but he was still their squad mate so they were at least worried about his well being. Sure enough, Jack managed to let out with a groan "I've been hit worse than that. And will you stop calling me 'Yankee'? I have a name."

"Hah. I think we can take that as a yes," laughed Rosie with a slight smile forming on her lips. She handed Jack his BAR which he accepted. She then popped out of cover to fire another burst of bullets but immediately ducked back down when a few German soldiers opened up on her with their MP-40's. As she got back down she mumbled to Largo "Shit. We can't stop these guys. There's too many of them."

"We have to hold out," bellowed Largo "We can't let these bastards reach the other side of the river. Keep fighting."

"Easy for you to say," mentioned Jack as the three of them simultaneously popped out of cover and fired their weapons at the advancing Germans.

* * *

**Welkin's POV**

I fired another shot from the_ Edelweiss's_ main cannon and Isara moved the tank back into cover. The same thing that we had been doing for the past half hour. So far we had managed to take out a few of their infantry, but their tanks were still operational. The constant stream of fire coming from their cannons were keeping us pined behind the two large stone pillars at the mouth of our bridgehead. Blast it! If we don't do something soon, we're going to be overrun. The _Edelweiss's_ armor is strong, but I doubt that it's tough enough to withstand continuous firepower from four King Tigers. Looks like I'll have to get out in the field for this one.

Without a second thought, I ripped off my radio headset. I looked to Isara and said "I'm going out there. Keep the _Edelweiss_ out of harm's way until I come back."

She responded back to me with "You got it Welks."

I grabbed my holster with the pistol still inside along with some ammunition for it before attaching it to my belt. I opened the tank hatch leading outside, climbed out of the tank and leaped off of it. I began to run towards the front lines where my squad was fighting. I charged through the hail of bullets, moving from cover to cover as I tried to keep myself alive long enough to get to my men. After moving through several lines of Militia squads, I managed to see that my Squad was at the front of the line along with Squad 1, both bearing the brunt of the Nazi onslaught. Faldio and Alicia were firing from behind the pile of rubble in the middle while Jack, Rosie, and Largo were doing the same from the right.

I was hiding behind a piece of cover behind them. I needed to get their attention so I shouted to Faldio "Hey guys!"

Faldio managed to hear me and looked back at the sound of my voice. Once he saw me, he signaled with his hand for me to advance forward. I did as he instructed and found myself crouched next to him behind the pile of rubble with my pistol in hand.

"Looks like their throwing everything they have at us," I commented.

"Yeah, no kidding. We have to think of a way to turn them around or we'll lose the bridgehead," added Faldio, peaking his head slightly out of cover to survey the German forces pressing in on them.

Faldio was right. We had to do some quick thinking if we were going to turn the tide of this battle. Following Faldio's example, I took a look at the enemy forces without peaking my head out to much as to draw their attention. Or their bullets. The four King Tigers were still in a line formation, pretty much blocking the entire pathway across the bridge. They were still firing away at them with their cannons and machine guns. They had been firing at us for half and hour with those things non-stop. It left me wondering how many shells and bullets those things carried. And now some of the infantry were marching in front of them, right in the open, weapons drawn. The bullets coming from the King Tigers coaxial machine guns were keeping us pinned down while a small squad of German soldiers, maybe about twenty of them, were moving in front of them at the same pace. They would probably kill the Militiamen they would come across as they were hiding behind their cover. They would be able to eliminate the Gallians defending the bridgehead, then move on to hit the main camp.

I then began thinking of a way to beat these guys. We couldn't take them in a head on charge, that'd be suicide. Mainly because we'd be mowed down before we ever got close to them. We could try and fall back to the actual entrance into the bridge and try to create a kind of killing field. No, that wouldn't work either. The sheer force of the German assault would just simply plow through us. Ugh, how were we suppose to win? It's not like we could simply hit...them...from...behind.

Suddenly, a thought just popped into my head. I remembered hearing that the Vasel bridge has steel walkways on the sides large enough for a small car to drive through. If we could get a few soldiers onto them. They might be able to sneak past the King Tigers and hit them from the rear. The closer they were to their rear, the farther they would be from harm. It's the last thing the Nazis would expect.

I turned over to the others on my right and yelled as loud as I could over the sounds of battle "Largo! Rosie! Take a few soldiers and try to flank them! Use the walkways on the sides of bridge! See if you can get them to lay off their attack a little bit!"

"Are you crazy?! What if they see us?" shot back Rosie.

"You got a better plan Stark? If so, why don't you enlighten us? Because how can it possibly be any worse than what we're doing right now?!" mocked Jack, letting loose another burst with his BAR. This only seemed to infuriate Rosie as she turned to look at him with a disgruntled look on her face. "Why don't you shut your face Yankee?! And would you stop calling me Stark?!" she yelled back.

"Start calling me Jack, and I might consider it," he countered.

Largo, who had to listen to the whole thing decided that he had heard enough and stepped in to break up the squabble. "Alright you two! Break it up! Save some of that anger for the Nazis! Let's just get this job over with," he shouted.

The two of them stopped bickering for they both knew that Largo was right. So they decided to go along with the plan. Then continue their previous conversation later. Rosie and Largo looked at me and nodded, showing that they understood my orders. Before they could proceed with the plan Jack looked at me and asked "While they're hitting these guys from behind, what are the rest of us going to do?"

"We'll give them some suppressing fire. We keep the Germans distracted on us while they work behind them. That work for you," I said. Jack just simply shrugged his shoulders and responded "Well I've done worse things in the army. This can't be anything different."

"Alright then. Once we get them suppressed you two gather the group and make for the walkways on either side," I explained. The two of them once again nodded in understanding.

Wasting no time, I immediately gave the order "EVERYONE! I WANT SUPPRESIVE FIRE ON THOSE GERMANS NOW!" I shouted. Suddenly all the Gallian Militiamen on the bridge popped out of cover and began firing away at the Germans. The soldiers who were standing in front of the tank were immediately cut down while the stragglers managed to make a break for it to the rear of the tanks. Now all of their attention was on us. It was exactly what we needed if Largo and Rosie were going to be successful.

**Welkin's POV End**

* * *

Largo and Rosie, along with their small handpicked team were slowly and quietly making their way to the German's flank via the walkways. They had taken along Karl, Oscar, Cherry, Ted, Wendy, Kevin, Theold, Yoko, and Catherine as their group to take down the German rear. The walkway was elevated a few feet below the bridge so they made use of it by crouching down and keep their heads down so that they wouldn't be discovered early, only peaking them up slightly to see how close they were getting to the enemy lines.

When they took another peak, they saw that they were right next to the side of the King Tiger on the German's left flank. At point blank range, their Lances would have the hitting power to pierce right through that armor like the blade of a hot knife cutting butter. Unfortunately they realized that behind the King Tigers was a full company of German infantry ready to attack at a moments notice. Luckily they hadn't noticed them yet so they still had a chance to inflict some damage on the enemy armor before they could realize something was going on.

Largo looked behind him to the group and whispered "Alright, Roise and everyone with a gun in front. Theold and Yoko stay behind and knock out this tank." Theold and Yoko readied their Lances with an anti-tank warhead while everyone else crawled forward, leaning against the side of the bridge for cover, creating a kind of firing line. Meanwhile Theold and Yoko had finished placing the warheads upon their Lances and were now aiming them at the Panzer's side armor at point blank range.

"I'm sure this'll make me a hero yet," said Theold happily. Yoko simply shook her head in disbelief and scolded "Blowing up one tank doesn't make you a hero. You could take out a dozen tanks and I still wouldn't call you a hero."

"Aw, just shut it 'Granny Smith'," replied an annoyed Theold. And without another word both of them fired their Lances near simultaneously, both slicing through the armored plating. The shells moved through the armor, leaving two circular holes red hot from the heat of the penetration. There were a few second where nothing happened. In fact nothing happened after the shells went inside. Theold began to scratch his head as he wondered why nothing was happening. Finally after a few moments of scratching and wondering he admitted "Well. That was anti-climatic."

And as if on cue, the shells explode within the tank. Smoke and fire shoot out from the hatch as well as the two holes where the shells had entered. Theold and Yoko had to duck down to avoid the fiery heat and smoke billowing from the tank. The Germans in the rear were so caught off by the explosion that many of them dived to the ground for cover, not knowing what the hell had just happened.

"Okay, I spoke too soon," commented Theold as he poked his head back up. He looked to Largo and asked him "Do you think they noticed that?". Largo just shook his head at the thought that he had just been asked a stupid question. Before he could answer, a German soldier who had dived to the ground caught a glimpse of him and exposed his position. He quickly got back on his feet and fired a few shots at him with his rifle. The first bullet missed which helped warn Largo to the imminent danger. He ducked behind cover as the German kept firing. Soon, his comrades caught on to the Gallians as well and followed suit, firing their weapons at them as well.

"There's your answer jackass!" shouted Kevin before firing a burst blindly at the German soldiers with the others following suit a few seconds later. By now the German tanks had become aware as to what was going on. One of the King Tigers began to back up to deal with Rosie and Largo's group while the other two moved forward by themselves to continue annihilating the Gallians. The tank that was backing up began to turn hard to the right to bring it's thick frontal armor as well as it's machine guns and the main cannon upon the small Militia group.

"Like, how are we supposed to deal with them now Rosie?" exclaimed Cherry. Ideas began to run through her mind as Rosie tried to think of ways to deal with this when a thought began to pop in her head. She turned her head and yelled "Wendy! Get Bielert and Landzaat!" She then pulled out a stick grenade from her belt. Rosie finished with "We're gonna take that oversized tin can out!" Cheslock simply pulled a smile on her face and gathered the two other Squad 7 members for Rosie's plan. The two of them along with Wendy had managed to grab a grenade as well.

When she saw that they were all ready to commence she announced "On the count of three, we move. One. Two. Three!" And with that the four of them jumped onto the bridge and charged towards the German tank as it was turning. As they were running, the German troops were now taking potshots at them while Largo and the others were trying to keep their attention focused on them. They were mostly successful but there were still a few Germans firing at Rosie's men. One of the Germans took aim with his rifle and fired. The shot struck Oscar in his right leg, just above the knee. He fell to the ground, face first, clutching his wound as he screamed in pain. Karl, who had noticed Oscar's wound, stopped running and instead pulled up Oscar and began to drag him back to cover. With Oscar's arm over his shoulder, they hopped back to Largo's group while Karl pulled out his pistol and fired a few potshots at the Germans himself. Just as they had managed to reach the safety of the group, another bullet struck Karl in the side which caused him to let go of Oscar as the both of them fell in front of the others. Ted and Cherry dragged the both of them the few more feet to cover and began to try and slow their bleeding.

Wendy and Rosie continued charging at the King Tiger which was now facing directly at them, machine guns blazing. They advanced from cover to cover as they reloaded, inching ever closer to the tank. Often they would have to fire a burst from their weapons at the German soldiers firing at them. Even taking a few of them down along the way. But as they got closer, intensity of the fire got larger. One of them would have to take out the tank while the other would keep the Nazis occupied. Before Rosie could decide who would be that person, Wendy immediately jumped out and began to climb the side of the tank, grenade and sub-machine gun in hands. Bullets being fired from the Germans either whizzed by her head or pinged off the tank's hull, missing her by mere inches.

As she neared the turret hatch, one of the tank's crewmen came out and pulled out his pistol in an attempt to stop her. He pulled the pistol a few seconds too late however as Wendy squeezed the trigger on her Mags sub-machine gun and riddled the torso of the crewman with bullets. Dead, he slumped back down into the turret hatch, leaving some blood behind on the turret. Once he was gone, Wendy took out her grenade, pulled out the safety pin, and hurled it into the tank before jumping off and landing back on the ground. A few moments later, the grenade exploded inside the tank, killing the crew.

Rosie let out a smirk as she heard the boom coming from inside the King Tiger. They had managed to knock out half of the enemy armor, one more than she had expected. They had little time to celebrate however. There were still two King Tigers left along with about a hundred German soldiers. They would have to regroup with the others and get Oscar and Karl a safe distance away from the fighting.

* * *

From the safety of the Gallian camp, the Gallian Regulars listened to the sounds of battle coming from the bridge as the Militia were struggling to hold the line. Mary Read stood among her soldiers as they could only imagine what was going on. Judging by the series of explosions, the screaming, and the amount of gunfire, they could only conclude that the Militia were being wiped out. Some of the Regulars muttered in disbelief at what was going on.

"God, they're getting massacred."

"Poor bastards."

"What the hell are the Germans throwing at them Lieutenant?"

Read seemed to ignore the soldier's question. She appeared to be lost in her own thoughts. Her men should be helping Lieutenant Gunther and his men hold the line at the bridge, not hide like cowards back at their own base. Her men are soldiers in the Gallian Army, it was their job to defend their country from foreign powers like the Nazis. But they all knew the truth as to why they were being kept out of the fight. Gallia's Generals were all Nobles who held the same aura of superiority about themselves when compared to people like those of the Militia. They thought that since they led the Regular's, they were better in every way to them, so they would often keep their troops from fighting. Leaving the Militia to do the fighting while the Army get the glory.

In truth, while the Regular's officers thought this way, the actual soldiers didn't. They respected the Militia and thought of them as equals in the fight. They didn't see them as cannon fodder like General Damon and others did. But their opinions were often silenced by those in command over them. Read knew that better than anyone, mainly because she thought exactly like that. But after the skirmish at the farmhouse, and listening to Lieutenant Gunther's words, she began to rethink her position. When she told the Militia to remain behind while she scouted the farm, she did so believing that they would simply be a nuisance and get in her way. But when her troops were attacked, she began to doubt her choice. As Squad 7 charged into the fray in order to save them, she kept wondering to herself 'why would they do that for us?' The Generals treated them like expendable soldiers, if not worse, yet they risked their lives in order to save them.

Perhaps, in the end it didn't matter who they were. Regular or Militia, officer or soldier, they were all here for the exact same reason: To defend Gallia and her people. And like it or not, Read owed her life and those of her men to Gunther. Now it was time for her to repay the debt. It was time for her to save his life.

Turning on her heel, she looked to Carter and announced "Sergeant. Ready what's left of our company and prepare to sortie. We're going toward the bridgehead." Carter, as well as her men had a look of surprise on their faces as they heard her orders. Wanting to make sure that they were all on the same page, he asked "Are you thinking what I think you're thinking ma'am?"

Mary simply nodded her head as a response, a smile forming on her face. With this new information, Carter stared at the man and yelled "Well, you heard the lady lads! Get to your vehicles. We go to war!"

* * *

The Gallian Militia had now fallen back to the very end of the bridge. Aside from Squad 7, most of the other squads were now severely depleted from the fighting. They were running dangerously low on ammunition, and the Nazis were quickly closing in on their positions. Everything seemed like the battle would be lost, and only a miracle could save them now.

"I am officially starting to regret my decision to volunteer for the Militia," whined Cezary.

"I'm beginning to agree with you," added Ramona.

"If those King Tigers don't wipe us out those infantry will," informed Jack as he let out a salvo of shots from his twin Colt pistols as he had run out of ammo for his BAR. He knew that their position was hopeless. Their Lancers had run out of rockets and the _Edelweiss_ had no more shells left as well. And he highly doubted that they could try what Rosie and Wendy did with their grenades a second time. Without any anti-armor weapons, they were officially screwed. Just when things seemed like they couldn't get any stranger, Alicia noticed Marina step out of cover, exposing herself completely towards the advancing Germans. "Marina, get down! You're going to get yourself killed!" shouted Alicia. But Marina simply remained silent like she always was, raised her rifle, and took aim through the telescopic sight.

Through her sight she surveyed the enemy as they advanced towards them. She paid no attention to the Germans whose bullets simply whistled past her head. Instead she took aim at one of the remaining King Tigers, more specifically, the one on her right. She knew that her bullets would have no effect at all on the tank. It's armor was simply way to thick to be beaten by a lone sniper. But from all her experience in hunting she knew one thing: everything has a weak spot. And for the tank, that was the viewing port for the driver. The driver had a small view port on the sloped hull in front of him so that he could use it to more effectively drive the tank. It was covered with bulletproof glass but do to the fighting, it was mostly cracked and on the verge of breaking. One well placed shot would probably be enough top shatter the glass completely and kill the driver. And one shot was all that Marina needed.

Once she had the shot lined up, she pulled the trigger on her rifle. The bullet exited the barrel with the sound of the gunshot piercing through the air. In her mind Marina could see the bullet flying through the air in slow motion. Watch, as it glided past the incoming bullets, shells, and incoming Germans. And finally, she saw the glass view port shatter into many pieces as the bullet finally hit home and struck the driver in the head, killing him instantly. The tank began to swerve left and right before turning completely to it's right and ramming the side of one of the King Tigers. It began to push the tank along it's side, screeching along the bridge as it made it's way closer to the edge of the bridge. Soon the tank collided with the steel bars on the bridge and busted through them, leaving the tanks to simply run off the edge of the bridge into the river below.

_"After that day, I had a whole new level of respect for Marina. She managed to take down two King Tigers with a single shot from a sniper rifle. Before that day, I didn't even think that such a feat was possible let alone thought that there was anyone alive crazy enough to try it. But she managed to convince me otherwise. From that day forward, I began to think of her as perhaps the best sniper in all of Gallia, and if so, Europe itself." -Jack Lawrence_

Everyone one stood in awe at what Marina had just accomplished. They simply stared for a few seconds with their mouths agape before returning back to reality and returning fire back at the Germans. The Nazis, now without any armor support, decided to simply charge the weakened Gallian line, and charge they did. They came at them, bayonets drawn. But just when they were about to reach them. Three massive explosions struck the troops at the head of the charge. Killing about twenty or more in the blasts. The Militia looked behind them to see Read's company along with three tanks coming to support them. With their new reinforcements, the Gallian's vigor was renewed with both Regulars and Militia now charging straight at the Germans.

The Germans retreated towards their side of the bridge, their forces steadily being dropped by the bullets and shells coming from the Gallians. They chased the Germans for so long they became completely oblivious, not even realizing that they were nearing the German side of the river. They realized it only when they were greeted by shells from German Pak40 anti-tank cannons and MG42 machine gun fire. The MG42's cut down several Militiamen and Regulars while their Pak40's knocked out one of the Gallian light tanks. The fire became so intense that explosions and ricochets began to surround them. Ultimately the Gallians withdrew their forces and retreated back to their side of Vasel, bringing the German counterattack to an end.

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	17. The Bet and the Plan

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Western Vasel _

_1530 hours (3:30pm)_

By the skin of their teeth the Gallians had managed to hold their ground against the German counterattack. But their losses were very severe. They had lost a lot of manpower in the attack. Though High Command managed to send them some reinforcements from their Vasel Battalion along with a few other Militia squads, it was clear that they wouldn't manage to survive another attack if the Germans managed to mobilize another force against them. They would simply have to wait and hold out until the Army could send in the entire Vasel Battalion to help relive them. As distasteful as that seemed for any of them.

The Militia were tending to the defenses if the Germans would attack again. It was mostly placing the sandbags or reloading their weapons and tanks. Due to them being short on ammunition, they took the weapons and ammo from the dead on both sides and distributed them among their soldiers. Soon the Gallian forces in Vasel were equipped with both Gallian and German weapons. They had also scavenged whatever useful equipment that could be found from the wrecks of the King Tigers. Meanwhile, the Captain Varrot was discussing with several of her officers as to their current situation and their next move.

Near the edge of the river, Welkin and Mary were walking alongside the edge of the river side by side, discussing the events of the previous battle. "I have to admit, I didn't expect you to come and help us," noted Welkin.

Mary shrugged her shoulders before admitting "You did the same for me back at the farm. I figured that this was just me returning the favor."

"Either way, I wanted to thank you," said Welkin. Read was caught off guard by Welkin's sudden kindness. Her cheeks began to blush and she ran her hand through her hair. She looked away from Welkin a little bit before stuttering the words out of her mouth "Um, yo-your wel-welcome, Lieutenant Gunther."

"You can just call me Welkin you know," he clarified to her. She looked at him with a happy yet innocent look and replied "Alright. You got it...Welkin." She stared at him for a few seconds before stuttering out once more "Um, I um, need to get going. Sorry." The next instance she bolted off without saying another word. As she left, her face had a mixture of happiness and embarrassment.

Welkin watched her walk away, confused by her sudden change in behavior. Suddenly, he felt someone bump his arm, and looked to see Jack, seemingly enjoying himself. The fact that Jack found something amusing didn't normally bother Welkin. As long as it didn't have to involve with him that is. Though for right now, he couldn't help but wonder what was so funny. "What?" asked Welkin inquisitively.

"Oh you know. I just never figured you being one to get the ladies to like you so much if you know what I mean," said Jack, almost like he was singing it to a tune. Welkin simply stood there confused as he was a few minutes ago. He had no idea what Jack was even talking about. "Um, what exactly do you mean?" he asked, hoping that Jack could at least clarify what he was saying.

When he said that however, Jack's expression vanished as soon as it appeared. "Seriously? Did you not see how Lieutenant 'Ice Queen' made a complete 180 in her personality when it came to you? You didn't see how her frozen heart simply melted by your words?" he questioned.

"Did you just call Mary the 'Ice Queen'?" asked Welkin, noticing Jack's choice of words.

"Yeah. I heard it from her Sergeant. According to him, when she was a cadet at Lanseal, she had no shortage of guys trying to score a date with her. And from what he told me, that list was _long_. Every time one tried to ask her out, she turned them down, and harshly. Hence the title, 'Ice Queen'," he explained.

Welkin pondered that information for a bit. _So they call her that because any guy that tries to approach her gets shot down. But when she talked to me she seemed different. Not the cold demeanor she had when they first set off from Amaranthine but, more like an innocent schoolgirl. A schoolgirl who has her first crush. Wait, a crush? Is Jack saying that Mary has a crush on...? _Welkin immediately realized what Jack was talking about. Upon realization, he began to wave his hands back and forth before frantically saying "Wait, wait, wait! I-It's not like that. T-This is completely unrelated."

Jack however, wasn't buying any of it. "Right. So her blushing face and running off without saying a word was just a spur of the moment thing?" he interpreted.

Welkin tried to form a response but the words just couldn't come out of his mouth. No matter what he tried, he just couldn't find the right words to say. It wasn't that he didn't think of Mary as a woman, he just didn't think of her that way. Of course when you took into account her brains and beauty, he could see why any guy would fall for her. But he didn't see why they expected he would as well. Finally, he gave up trying to make up an excuse and gave a weary sigh. "Is there a reason you came here to see me other than to just annoy me?" he asked, hoping that there was an answer that would get him out of this.

"Actually yes. Varrot wants to see you. I think she's going to tell you guys about the next stage of the operation," said Jack. Welkin let out a sigh of relief as he began to walk away towards Varrot's command tent. He was just thankful that the Captain had wanted to see him. It saved him from any more further embarrassment at the hands of Jack.

Once he knew that Welkin was no longer within earshot of him, Jack said to himself "I gotta tell Faldio and the others about this," before running of in order to get to them before Welkin did.

* * *

It took Welkin a little longer than expected to find the main camp. Due to the counterattack the had to move the camp further away from the bridge, so it was a little harder to find than Welkin originally thought it would. Thankfully, after a few misplaced turns he managed to find it after all. Though he was glad to be away from Jack and his questions about him and Mary's supposed 'crush' on him. If there even was a crush being discussed here. Sometimes Welkin wondered if Jack just did this simply because he enjoyed seeing Welkin irritated.

As he walked through the camp he was met by cheers and congrats from many of the Militia and Regulars he passed by. It seems that Squad 7's actions at the bridgehead didn't go unnoticed. All the way to Varrot's tent people looked to him and said 'Hey, Gunther. Great job' or 'You saved our skins here Lieutenant'. A few of them reached out to him and shook his hand as they said it or gave him a friendly pat on the back. Welkin simply replied back with a 'Thank You' along with a few 'Your Welcomes'. He had to admit that it was nice to be recognized for something, though he wasn't sure that he would be able to handle all the attention that things like this would give him.

He was making the last leg of his trip to the command tent before he was stopped by a pair of soldiers from the Regulars, a man and a woman both seventeen years old. from the look on their faces they seemed eager to tell him something. Before Welkin could say anything, the man asked him "Are you by any chance Lieutenant Welkin Gunther, Militia Squad 7?"

Welkin straightened his posture before responding back "That's correct. I'm Lieutenant Welkin Gunther."

Upon hearing this news, their faces lit up with surprise and happiness. The two of them gave Welkin a quick salute before the woman introduced them. "Sir, my name is Private Katy Borin and this is Corporal Samuel Hastings. Our fathers served together under your father General Belgen Gunther during the Great War," she explained.

"At ease, it's nice to meet the both of you," greeted Welkin. The three of them then began to talking about their fathers along with how they knew each other and the adventures their fathers had during the war. This went on for several minutes before they were interrupted by a man in a large brown trench coat and fedora, holding a flash camera in his hands. When he got closer, Welkin got a better look at him. He was a man of about twenty seven years old, with short brown hair and green eyes. He approached them and introduced himself "Excuse me, Lieutenant Gunther? I'm Alistair Koller, a reporter with the New York Times. Would you mind if I took a picture or two of you for the paper?"

"The New York Times? That's an American newspaper. What are you doing here?" asked Welkin, noting the name of the newspaper. He knew from experience that Jack was from New York City, and everyday his folks would send in a copy of the paper over to Jack while he was studying at Randgriz. He would often find Jack everyday reading that paper in either his dorm room or in the Rec Room. If he remembered correctly, Jack once told him that the New York Times is 'the most popular and well read newspaper in all of America and her Commonwealth States.

"Gallia is an ally of the United States. One that we give a lot of support for. Plus, I'm a war reporter. It's kind of my job. I was hoping I could get a picture or two of the Gallian forces here in Vasel for the Times," he explained. "You know, this could actually help you guys in the long run," he added.

"How?" asked Hastings, wondering where this was going. "Despite the U.S. government declaring our neutrality, there is a lot of support among the American people for giving more support on the Gallian Front," explained Koller.

"What kind of support?" inquired Borin.

"Like 'U.S. boots on the ground' kind of support. The more victories you win Lieutenant Gunther, the more the pressure gets put on the government, the more likely you get the full might of the U.S. Army on your side. If you help me get an audience with your Captain, I can make that happen," he said, finishing his offer to the Lieutenant. Welkin took a moment to consider the offer. It was true that Gallia was at a disadvantage in the current state of the war. Germania had all the advantages in terms of manpower, Ragnite reserves, industrial might, and military strength. Even though the Gallian forces managed to win a few minor victories today, in the long run it wouldn't mean anything if they didn't get any major wins or more support from the U.S. and Welkin remembered Faldio mentioning that the United States was in reality the only nation willing to offer support of any kind to Gallia. Maybe this really was a good idea.

Welkin decided to go along with the plan and informed Koller "Alright then, I suppose I can work something out with Captain Varrot. I'll help you get your audience with her."

A smile then appeared on Kollers face as he replied happily "Fantastic! You are not going to regret this Mr. Gunther. Soon your squad will be on the front page of every newspaper in the states from Greenland to the Philippines. Oh, that reminds me, how about a picture or two now?"

"I don't see the harm there. Can the two of them be in it?" asked Welkin, gesturing to Hastings and Borin. "Sure, the more the merrier. I'll also give them a few copies of the photo before it shows on the paper," accepted Koller. Welkin, Hastings, and Borin soon got together and posed for the shot as Alistair began taking a few photos with his camera. The bulb flashing brightly with each shot the camera took.

From a safe distance away, Rosie and Largo watched the scene unfolding with their disgust easily visible upon their faces. Here was their supposed commander, the young son of a war hero, a squad leader for barely a day, and was now talking to a reporter and posing for pictures. How obnoxious could one guy be? Is the fame already getting to his head?

"Ugh, now he's giving interviews? Who does he think he is?" questioned Rosie in disgust. She then sarcastically spouted out "Ooh, look at him, son of some big hero. Please, he's still a schoolboy."

"No kidding," said Largo, before lighting a cigarette and taking a puff from it. After taking it out of his mouth he added "A few little wins and suddenly he becomes the new Grand Duke. Ugh, I hate kids. Oh well, he'll learn soon enough. Only one thing matters out here in the field and that's experience."

"Yeah well, we better get going. The 'Quartermaster' said that we're supposed to help build defenses by the riverbanks," noted Rosie, emphasizing the word 'Quartermaster' with disdain.

* * *

Squad 7 was finishing their fortifications on their section of the river. While the others were building walls of sandbags, Jack was helping Isara with tending to the _Edelweiss_. Right now he was helping her load tank shells through the turret hatch. He'd grab the shells from outside and lower them down through the hatch to Isara who would place them upon the shell rack. Soon Jack grabbed the last shell and lowered it down to her. "Last one left," he said.

"Okay, got it," replied Isara as she slowly grabbed the shell and placed it upon the rack. Despite her small build, she was still strong enough to carry these shells for a certain amount of time. She then took a count of how many shells they had total, and found out that they were now fully stocked. The _Edelweiss_ could normally carry about twenty five anti-tank shells, another twenty five high-explosive warheads, as well as having an extra rack that can carry another ten shells in case they would need to, bringing the total to about sixty shells in total. They also had four cases of fifty caliber ammo, each one holding 250 rounds, for each of their three machine guns. So they had a total of 3000 machine gun bullets for their fifty cals. Most tanks couldn't hold even half of that ammo cause you would have no more room left. But the _Edelweiss_ had an enlarged interior that helped maximize space and efficiency, so that helped on the matter. This made the _Edelweiss_ more heavily armed than any other tank on the Gallian battlefield.

"Hey Jack, could you pull me up?" asked Isara, raising her hands into the air. Jack simply reached down to her, grabber her wrists, and began to hoist her out of the tank. Once she had finally gotten herself out, they both jumped off the tank chassis back onto the ground. Jack began to walk away, but noticed that Isara wasn't following. He turned around to see her simply gazing at the tank, her hand gently placed upon its armored skirts. As Jack walked back towards her, he noticed that she was too entranced with the _Edelweiss_ to be aware of him. Jack could see a small smile on Isara's face, which caused him to give a slight chuckle. That was enough to bring Isara back to reality as she jumped a little bit by the unexpected gesture. When Jack stopped chuckling her managed to ask her "You really love to take care of this thing don't you?"

"I do, yes," replied Isara with a small expression of sorrow upon her face "This is the all that I have left of my father."

"Your father? You mean Theimer?" asked Jack inquisitively.

She began to look down a bit and answered "I never really knew my father. He died when I was just a baby. Other than the pictures I have of him, I don't really have any memories of him. Or my mother for that matter. The _Edelweiss_ is really all that I have to remember them by. That's why I take such good care of it. Welks and General Gunther are like family to me. But it would have been nice if I could have actually known my parents." As she said the final sentences, small tears began to fall from her cheeks and her voice sounded as if her emotions were somehow broken. Jack could see this and figured out that he had probably upset her.

Moved to try and calm her down, he slowly wrapped Isara with his arms and brought her in for a small hug. Isara grabbed hold of his shirt and began to cry more. Her tears causing the shirt to become wet and her cries muffled by the shirt as well. Jack simply patted her on the back and whispered softly "It's okay. Let it out." After a few minutes of comforting the poor girl, Isara broke the hug and wiped the tears from her eyes. When she seemed to regain her composure she upwards to Jack.

"I'm sorry. I sort of lost myself for a moment there," apologized Isara.

"You don't have to apologize to me kiddo. If anything I should be the one apologizing. I'm the one who brought up bad memories," assured Jack. "I actually have a great deal of respect for your father," he noted.

Isara's face lit up with surprise. "You do? Why?" she asked. Jack turned his gaze to the tank as he explained to her "That man was a damn good engineer. We used a lot of his designs in the U.S. military. His designs have become the basis of our infantry weapons, tanks, planes, even our warships. I owe my life to a few of the things we built because of him. When I look at you and see how much you put into your work, I think I see your father in you." This caused Isara's eyes to brighten at the sound of his words.

"Seeing all that you do. It makes me know that if your father could see you now, I know that he'd be immensely proud of you no matter what," he finished as he patted Isara on the head.

"Thanks Jack. It's nice for someone other than my brother to treat me as an equal," mentioned Isara.

Jack let out a light chuckle at her remark before saying "I'm an American, it's how we are. It doesn't matter who you are, where you came from, or your social standing. Darcsen or not, everyone's equal in our eyes."

"In other words, America is a land full of Darcsens and Darcsen-lovers," said another voice. Jack and Isara turned their heads to see Rosie standing a few feet away from them, arms crossed, with a scornful look across her face. He took a look behind her and saw that Largo was standing behind her. Jack's expression soon turned serious as he asked Rosie very sternly "You have a problem with me don't you?"

"You're damn right I do!" yells Rosie as she stomps towards the two of them, closing the distance quite rapidly before stopping right in font of Jack, their faces about a foot apart. Her face had become tomato red from the anger that had bee building up inside her and was now on the verge of coming out. "I want to know how a damn Yankee got let into the Militia anyway!" exclaimed Rosie.

"Oh it was quite simple actually. I just walked up to the recruiter and said 'Hello my name is Jack Lawrence. I'm from the United States and I'd like to enlist with the Gallian Militia'. Though serving two years in the U.S. Army tended to help a little bit too," mocked Jack.

"I can't believe they even let you guys in considering how you guys abandoned everyone during the Great War," commented Largo.

Jack seemed a little insulted by that and shot back "So it's our problem to get involved every time you Europans start to bloody each others noses? We didn't become a world power so that we would have to babysit you people."

"That's easy for you to say. Do you have any idea how many people died in that war? All because America decided to sit on the sidelines and do nothing? Your people didn't suffer as we did so you don't get to talk like that!" criticized Largo.

Isara decided to try and step into the conversation. "You can't blame Jack or his people for what happened," she spoke.

"Who the hell asked you dark-hair?! You stay out of this!" yelled Rosie, now turning her anger over to Isara. Jack soon stepped between the two of them. "Another thing I just can't stand with. What the hell is with you people hating Darcsens anyway?"

"Read a history book Yankee! Their kind has a bad reputation and your kind defends them," yelled Rosie pointing her index finger at the both of them. Jack knew exactly what she was talking about. Though he didn't buy any bit of it. According to popular belief, five thousand years ago the Darcsens ravaged Europa along with several other continents in what was called the Darcsen Calamity. They pillaged, burned, and massacred as they destroyed everything they touched. Only with the arrival of the Valkyrur, a mysterious race of warriors bathed in blue flame and wielding lance and shield, brought the Calamity to a grinding halt. As punishment, the Darcsen people were stripped of their last names, right to own property, and have for five thousand years been the subject of racism, persecution, segregation, and hate crimes. The jobs they were allowed to have were that working in factories and the Ragnite mines, sometimes under grueling conditions. In an attempt to try and clear their names, their people adopted a policy of non-violence. 'Darcsens do not retaliate' was the line they constantly taught their children. To take the blows given to them and not retaliate back. However, even though there was a large decrease of people who discriminated them, the persecution they had long endured still continued to this day.

Many of the Darcsens decided to flee from their persecution by traveling to the United States. There they were given rights that had been denied to them for thousand of years. In the U.S. they could own property, speak their minds, own their own business, and so much more. But what made them happy the most was how in America, it's people treated them as equals. Americans accepted them regardless of their so called 'past'. That was due to the fact that although people in Europa believed that the Calamity happened, there has been no proof whatsoever to support the fact that it happened. And Americans tended to believe in facts when it came to history instead of popular belief. So it stemmed to reason that Jack as well didn't believe in that either. And he was sure as hell that he wasn't going to take any of this from someone like Rosie or Largo.

"Oh, don't bring up that 'Darcsen Calamity' bullshit with me," complained Jack "There's not a shred of proof that it even happened. Even if there was, it doesn't change anything."

"Even if there was proof, how wouldn't that make a difference?" accused Rosie.

"Let me put it like this. Even if what they did five thousand years ago was true, THAT WAS OVER FIVE THOUSAND YEARS AGO! There's not a soul alive who's been affected because of it," explained Jack. "It happened a long time ago. Can't you guys just let it go and move on?" he questioned.

"No we can't. And we also won't fight with them either," pointed out Largo, taking a puff from his cigarette. Jack then turned over to Largo and began with "Okay now look here..."

As the fight was unraveling, Alicia was passing through the area when she noticed it. She could easily see that it was slowly escalating with each exchange of words and she began to be afraid that it would soon turn violent if she didn't do anything. She instinctively began to run towards the command tent to try and find Welkin. Hoping that he would be able to talk some sense into these people and get them to get along.

* * *

Inside the tent Varrot had gathered the remaining squad commanders from the Militia and the Regulars. She was going to inform them on the plan General Damon had given them in order to retake the Eastern side of Vasel. But before that she began to congratulate three of them on their performance during the German counterattack.

"Thanks to the efforts of Lieutenants Gunther, Faldio, and Read, we managed to drive back the Germans. The three of you should be proud of what your men and women have accomplished," she said.

The three officers gave her a quick salute before Faldio responded back "Thank you ma'am, we're just doing our jobs." Varrot simply gave them a smile before explaining "It's rare for anyone , let alone a few young Lieutenants to defeat a Nazi counterattack. You three should consider yourselves lucky that you're squads are still intact." Her expression turned more somber as she explained next "Unfortunately, that may not be the case after the next phase of the operation."

The expression on Read's face soon turned out exactly the same as Varrot's. Reluctantly, she asked "This is going to upset me isn't it?" Varrot turned her head side by side slightly before informing them "The plan calls for the Militia to attack the enemy bridgehead via crossing the Great Vasel Bridge. The Regulars led by Lieutenant Read will join the attack after the Militia has finished their attack."

The three of them opened their jaws in utter surprise and dismay. Faldio and Welkin couldn't believe it mainly due to the fact that the Militia was once again being thrown into the fire as cannon fodder and as shields for the Regular's. Read couldn't believe it for two reasons. One was that her men were being left out of the fight, and the second was because of how the higher ups were so willing to throw away the lives of their soldiers.

"So what, their just handing us over to the Germans on a silver platter? How is that going to help us?" cried Faldio.

"I know how this seems. I felt the same way when I was a Militia foot soldier. But sometimes being a soldier means taking on tough missions, even dangerous ones," said Varrot. Things between the Militia and the Regulars now were exactly the same as they were during the Great War. Nobody in High Command thought of the Militia as anything more than expendable soldiers. Sometimes she wondered if things would ever truly change. "I won't lie to you Lieutenant. Just breaching through the German defenses alone is going to be difficult, if not impossible," she said disparagingly.

Before anyone could continue this conversation, Alicia burst into the tent. She instantly started panting as well as wiping the sweat from her brow, indicating that she had running here. When she had finally caught her breath she managed to blurt out "Welkin!"

"Sergeant Melchiott? What is it?" asked Varrot, curious as to what was so important. Alicia looked up to see herself surrounded by squad commanders along with Captain Varrot. She quickly summarized that she was interrupting something pretty important. She soon straightened her posture and apologized "Sorry ma'am. I didn't mean to interrupt."

"It's alright, we just finished. Now calm down and explain," assured Varrot.

"It's Squad 7. They...they're at each others throats. I need Lieutenant Gunther to come with me and stop them. They're almost about to come to blows," she explained somewhat frantically.

"You want me to break it up? I don't know, maybe we should just let them have it out," explained Welkin, scratching the back of his head slightly. Alicia's mouth dropped before muttering out "What? You can't just ignore them." Welkin was the squad leader. It was his job to keep the members of their unit together. She just couldn't understand why he was going to just do nothing about it.

"I'm not ignoring them. I think that it's important for them to say what they're thinking. Butting heads over differing opinions can be one way to bring people closer together," reasoned Welkin, putting one of his hands on Alicia's shoulder to help calm her down.

This however did little to calm her down. She was still a little upset and annoyed by Welkin's insistence to do anything. She yelled at him "Look you can't just sit here while your squad is tearing itself apart. It's not right. Now come on!" She then grabbed him by the arm and ran outside the tent, dragging him right behind her.

After they had all left, one of the Regular officers commented "Looks like he has his hands full as it is." Varrot followed that comment with "It's all part of growing together as a team."

* * *

Welkin followed Alicia, trying to keep up with her as she ran through the streets of Vasel leading him to the rest of the squad. And after a view twists and turns they managed to catch sight of them up ahead. On the way, Alicia told Welkin that the fight was between Jack, Largo, Rosie, and Isara. But what they saw was nothing like what she had described it. It seems now that the whole squad was there, and a few of them were now involved in this. On one side was Rosie, Largo, Cezary, Rosina, and Theold. The other group was slightly larger with it consisting of Jack, Isara, Karl, Nadine, Wavy, Juno, Vyse, Aika, and lastly Marina, though why she was involved in this was a complete mystery. The rest of the squad surrounded them, watching as the fight unfolded between the two groups. So far the fight was simply them yelling and shouting back at forth with each other. And as Alicia and he drew closer, the louder it seemed to get.

Welkin immediately began to try and figure out a way to break up the fight. At first he tried to shout in order to get their attention, but it proved futile as their shouting simply drowned out his voice. He sighed a little bit along with shaking his head in failure. He would have to resort to desperate measures in order to get their attention. Without another word, he quietly pulled out his Colt 1911, pointed it upward into the air towards the enemy side of the river, and fired a burst of three bullets in rapid succession.

The sound of the gunshots seemed to work. They instantly stopped their arguing and looked turned their heads to face Welkin and Alicia. They parted a bit to show that Rosie had a grip on Jack's blue duster. When she noticed the Lieutenant she reluctantly let go of him. Now that Welkin had gotten a hold of their attention, he became more serious. As he holstered pistol and began to walk towards the two opposing sides he yelled in frustration "Alright, now can somebody tell me what the hell is going on here!?"

"You really have to ask Lieutenant? It's either us or them pal," exclaimed Rosie. For a proper explanation, Welkin looked at Jack. Jack took a deep breath and explained "Corporal Stark and several others seem to have complaints about certain members of the squad."

"It's mostly about the Darcsens and foreigners in the squad," added Isara before Rosie grabbed her by her shawl.

"Will you shut up?! Who the hell asked for your opinion?!" she asked. Welkin soon grabbed her arm and got her to let go of Isara. He then stood between the two of them, looked at Rosie in the face before scolding her with "Keep your hands off of my little sister!"

The mention of 'sister' caused the squad members around them to gasp slightly and whisper among themselves. Largo and Rosie's group seemed baffled by what they had just heard. This little Darcsen girl was related to their Lieutenant. It was certainly a surprise to them that's for sure.

"Wait just a sec. This dark-hair here is your little sister?" asked Theold, still a little shocked by the revelation.

"How the hell is she your sister?!" questioned Rosie. Welkin then set about explaining how Isara was adopted by his family after her parents were killed.

"Sister or not, I'm not fighting alongside any of them," mentioned Rosina.

"I didn't take you for a Darcsen hater Seldon. What's your beef with them?" asked a curious Jack. She answered back honestly "Nothing personal. I just think their kind needs to toughen up a bit. Grow some muscle, you know."

"We can fight just fine without your 'muscle' thank you. And what makes you say we can't fight? This is our home too," defended Nadine with Wavy standing right beside her.

"And Aika and I are here to help you guys same as Jack. What does it matter where we come from if we help with the fighting?" questioned Vyse. Cezery shot back at him with "Because this is the 'Gallian' Militia, and you guys aren't Gallian."

Rosie than pointed at Isara and the rest of the Darcsens and complained "And cause your kind has a bad reputation, and everyone knows it. How don't we know that you guys aren't planning to stab us all in the back?"

"Are you suggesting they'd give us up to the Nazis. Ha," scoffed Juno "The Germans hate their people. The Germans would more likely kill them as soon as they looked at them."

"Or worse. They could be sent to the camps," added Marina, finally breaking her silence.

"Look the point is that we're on the same side here. Our enemy is on the other bank, not in our ranks," clarified Isara. "And I don't care what you say about me. I'm a human being, same as you. Besides, there's no proof to substantiate what you call the 'Darcsen Calamity'. It's a myth," she stated.

As soon as she finished, Rosie looked to her very sternly and proclaimed "Excuse me!? So what you're calling me stupid now?"

Welkin had however had enough and pushed the two of them aside. "That's enough. Both of you," he said.

"Okay boss-man. We won't fight alongside no foreigners or Darcsens. What part of that can't you understand," questioned Largo, as he took the cigarette out of his mouth, flicked it to the ground and crushed it with his boot. "Another thing we ain't doing, is taking orders from some hotshot greenhorn," he added with disgust in his voice.

Welkin took a few moments for those words to sink in. It was clear now that nobody in the squad was going to accept him willingly. They probably think he's too young or inexperienced for this job. So be it. If they won't accept him willingly than he'll make them respect him. And he had the perfect idea as to how.

"Alright fine. Now all of you listen and listen good. I'll have the eastern bank of Vasel back in Gallia's hands in 48 hours," he proclaimed. Largo along with the rest of the squad gasped in surprise and their eyes widened. "Now if my plan fails, which I doubt, I'll resign. Squad 7 will be all yours Largo. But if my plan works, you'll take my orders and like it. Understood?" he finished

48 hours? How was that possible? There was over a thousand German soldiers on the other side of the river. The combined Militia and Regular forces totaled only a few hundred. How was he going to take back the bridge with those numbers? If you compared the two sides, the Germans had all the advantages over them. But Largo simply burst into laughter along with the rest of the squad. They couldn't believe that he would be so stupid as to make that bet. When they had all calmed down, Largo asked him "Your funeral boss-man. You sure about this?"

Welkin nodded his head and affirmed himself with a 'yes'. Largo was silent for a few seconds before saying "Alright, challenge accepted. I can't wait to see you hand the Captain your resignation. Let's go everyone." He signaled for the rest of the squad to followed which they did, slowly abandoning leaving along with him. Soon only Welkin, Alicia, Jack, and Isara. Once they were all alone, Alicia grabbed Welkin by his tunic and yelled "What the hell is wrong with you? You just made a bet we can't win."

"Look Welkin, I get you want to earn these people's respect but this is just crazy," added Jack, showing concern for his friends choice.

Welkin managed to get Alicia to release him. As he straightened out his uniform, Isara began to apologize "I'm sorry Welkin. Jack and I were just trying to defend ourselves. We didn't mean for things to get out of hand."

"It's not your fault Is. This is war. Everyone's on edge. And this mission isn't helping either. It's little wonder the troops are all upset," comforted Welkin as he patted Isara on the head a little bit.

"But still, how are you going to take that bridge back in 48 hours?" asked Alicia, desperate to find out if he had an answer.

Welkin began to fidget a little bit as he nervously admitted "Well I don't know. I just have to figure out a way too..." he was just about to finish until all of a sudden his face lit up as if he had an epiphany. Jack looked at him and suddenly began to worry a little bit. He had seen that look before. And whenever Welkin ever had that look, that meant that he had come up with a crazy plan. "He's got the look. God help us he has the look." he wailed. Suddenly Welkin took off like a madman, ignoring the calls coming from Alicia telling him to come back.

"And, he's gone. This had better be good," mumbled Alicia.

* * *

Back at the command tent, Varrot was discussing with Koller about his offer to be attached to Squad 7 as their reporter. He had aid out his case for it in front of her. He told her about how what he wrote could put pressure on the U.S. government to send more support to their forces, maybe even help them send the might of the United States military to Gallia. In return he would write about Squad 7's accomplishments, and help bring publicity to the Gallian Militia. Varrot took a few moments to consider the offer. It was true that Gallia would need more help in this war. And the thought of American troops here sounded like a good idea. However, there was one small problem with the offer that she wanted to address.

"It seems like a good offer. However I'm a little concerned about what you'll write. One wrong operation could reflect badly upon Lieutenant Gunther's Squad and by extension the entire Militia if you write about it," explained a concerned Varrot.

"Don't worry. One thing that we Americans know a lot about is how war works. We know that not everything goes according to plan. They aren't going to go against you because of one bad battle. I promise you Captain, this won't happen," assured Koller, trying to calm her down a little bit.

Varrot took a deep sigh before saying "Alright then. It appears that we have a deal." Before Koller could say anything to reply, Welkin came into the tent shouting frantically "Captain Varrot! Ma'am, I need to speak with you!" Koller figured out that Welkin had something important to tell her, and since he had managed to get his deal, he figured that this was his time to make an exit. Once he had left the tent, Welkin got down to explaining.

"Captain, you told me if I ever had a plan I should run it by you first before acting on it?" he mentioned.

"Yes, but what is it?" asked Varrot, unsure as to where this was going.

"Because I have a plan. One that'll drive the Germans out of Vasel completely," he said.

* * *

_A couple hours later_

Welkin had asked Alicia to gather the squad together for them to hear about his plan that he had come up with to take back Vasel. They were brought by the river bank with the _Edelweiss_ facing them by the side and covered by a large cloth. Some came immediately to the meeting, while the others they had to drag to this meeting, literally. They were about to start the meeting when Jack came dragging the last two people, Cezary and Herbert, with him by their collars. When they finally arrived, Jack lunged them both forward into the crowd before taking his place within the meeting. Once they had all gathered, Largo decided to get off his chest and asked Welkin "All right, let's hear this brilliant plan. And it's too late to back out. You got that? So let's hear it!"

"We're going to strike the enemy encampment on the East bank," said Welkin plainly.

"Whoa hold it. You're asking us to die for you!?" exclaimed Rosie, in complete shock by what she just heard. "One squad ain't breaching that bridgehead, buddy boy. That would be suicide," she claimed.

"We're not taking on the bridgehead," corrected Welkin. "We're taking on this," he said, pointing to the river next to them. "We'll use the morning fog as cover as we cross the river, then launch a surprise attack on the enemy garrison," he further explained.

Aww c'mon, is this some game to you boyo? We're less than sixty soldiers here. The Germans have over a thousand troops on the other side. Swimming a couple of foot soldiers ain't going to do much if we don't have any tanks," criticized Largo.

"Don't worry, I have that covered. Is?" assured Welkin while looking to Isara as if giving her a signal. With a quick swipe, she pulled the cloth off the _Edelweiss_ to show that it had some modifications placed upon it. There seemed to be metal coverings around the muzzle of the barrel, the turret hatch, and even covering the large Ragnite radiator in the rear of the tank. They could also see that she had placed a light projector on the side of the tank with a shutter. Along with a few other places, it seemed that she had somehow managed to place these on in a short amount of time.

"I've fitted the _Edelweiss_ with water-resistant measures to allow for submersion. It'll only hold for a few minutes, but it should be enough to cross the river," explained Isara.

"And that is how we'll do it," added Welkin with great amusement.

"Hold on a sec. Ships pass through here. It's gotta be too deep for a tank," mentioned Largo.

"I have that covered. See that over there?" he asked, pointing at the reeds sticking out of the water.

"What is that, grass?" wondered Walter. Welkin nodded his head before replying "Nope. It's Mistlereed. A tall aquatic plant found in the estuaries in some rivers. I noticed it earlier. This stretch of the river runs shallow. Shallow enough for a tank to drive across."

Largo opened his mouth to say something but all that came out was "Well...I, um...you see." Coby stopped him short implying "Forget it. One look at you and we can tell you've got nothing to say." He then turned over to Welkin and asked him "So what's the rest of this plan you got cooked up?"

Welkin gave a slight smile at Coby's question. It seemed like they were now beginning to respect him. All he had to do now was execute his plan and then he'd have them. "First, Isara and I will cross over with the Edelweiss and clear the shore of any German patrols. Then I'll send a signal with the projector, telling the rest of you to come ashore in boats. Then we launch our attack on the enemy positions on the bank. Any questions?" he explained.

There was no sound coming from his squad for a minute before Jack raised his hand. Welkin noticed it and asked "What is it?"

"So this is your plan? Cross the river, land ashore, hope the Nazis don't spot us, and simply walk right inside the city," he asked, hoping he got everything right.

Knowing that there was more to his question, Welkin responded with "Yes, what about it?" Jack soon set about explaining his case "Well it's like Largo said. There is over a thousand German soldiers on the other bank. How is a platoon of less than sixty guys and one tank going to stop them? We're not some group of commandos here. How do you plan on getting past those odds?"

"I told you, I've thought this through. You don't need to worry," he assured him. Welkin than looked to his squad, looked therm dead in the eyes, and spoke plainly before them in a speech **_"Look. I know that none of you think much of me. You don't think I'm old enough or have the experience to lead you. But know this, I'm here for the same reason as you: to protect Gallia. We've already beaten the Germans three times already. Though these victories seem small, each one is a building block for a greater victory in the making. And hey, look at us. We aren't doing to badly for a band of misfits."_** Some of the squad members let out a light laugh at the remark. It's true that none of them were real soldiers, nor would they ever be. But their squad has managed to survive against all the odds placed against them. That had to count for something.

Wanting to keep up the momentum. Welkin walked over to the Edelweiss and climbed up on top of the turret. He looked over to see his squad mates looking at him to see where he was going next. They were already intrigued by his words. Now they were wondering what he was exactly going to say next. Welkin continued his speech with **_"We're going to fight. And we're going to keep fighting because that's all that we can do now. None of us had much of a choice. We didn't ask for this war, to be invaded. It was forced on us. Forced by a man who would see all of Europa under his rule if he could. But what they don't know is that when you're fighting in your own backyard, when your fighting for your family. The actual fighting hurts a little less. And it all makes a little more sense. Because for them, this is just some place. A piece of land they can conquer and claim as their own. But for us, this is different. For us, this is our home. It's where we were born, where we grew up, and where we'll raise our families. Our enemy would take that all away from us. Take away everything we hold dear."_**

Now he was getting somewhere. He had all their attention focused upon them. Jack could only look at his friend and admire what he was saying. _He makes a damn good speech _he thought. Jack thought back to when he first meet him. He was a carefree college student studying nature, now he was a commander over an entire platoon ready to lead them in a charge against the enemy. Most people would have that stretch out over a couple of years. But here he was, giving an inspirational speech in front of his men.

**_"The enemy we fight isn't one nation, one nationality, or one person. Our enemy is an ideology. One that millions of people across Europa, even from around the world have embraced. One where the strong stand tall and prosper while everyone left is oppressed or butchered. And I know that none of you will want to live underneath people like them. Our families, along with all of Gallia are watching us now. And not just them, every nation in Europa and the world is watching us as well. What do you suppose they'll see? A tiny nation struggling to survive? No. What they'll see are free men and woman, standing side by side against a tyrant. And what our enemy will see is the flash of our guns. They will hear our battle cries and they will see what Gallians can do. We will remind this nation and the world that the Nazi Empire is not invincible. That they can be defied. That there are those who would rather die on their feet than live on their knees. There is a fire that burns in everyone of us. And I see that fire alive and well in each one of you. Every second that fire burns, is a message that freedom won't die easily. Here in Gallia we'll make our stand. Here we will show our enemy true defiance. And here, as we fight our enemy, we will yell in their faces "This is Gallian land. And if you want it, you'll have to pay for it with blood!"_ **he finished. Once he had finished, most of the squad excluding Largo and Rosie, shot their fists into the air and let out a mighty roar. When they died down he climbed down from the tank and asked them one last question, "So what do you say? Are you in, or out?"

There was silence for a moment. Welkin thought for a moment that he had lost them. That was before Jack stepped forward and said "I'm in." Alicia followed along with Isara, and soon, one by one, the entire squad was signing on. When they all finished, they looked at Largo and Rosie, who were the only ones who answered. After a few moments of waiting for their answer Rosie finally broke her silence by begrudgingly saying "Fine, I'm in." Largo was silent for a few moments longer before saying "Same here."

Now with the entire squad backing his plan, Welkin finished the meeting by informing them, "Alright, now get some rest. The operation commences tomorrow at dawn. Dismissed."

* * *

From not too far away, Captain Varrot and Koller watched the meeting while making sure that they weren't seen by the squad. Koller had a large box-shaped device on the ground with a pair of headphones attached to his head and a microphone in his hand, keeping it pointed towards the meeting. Once it was finished he flipped a switch turning the machine off. Varrot looked at him and asked "You got all that?"

"Yep. All I have to do now is edit it out and ship it back to the States. Maybe send a copy to GBS and BBC radio," confirmed Koller as he started putting away his equipment.

Varrot then returned her gaze over to Lieutenant Gunther, who was now talking with Alicia and Isara. Quietly she whispered to herself "There's a lot of his father in him. I wonder how much more there is? And where it'll lead him."

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	18. Operation Cloudburst

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_April 16, 1935 _

_Eastern Bank of Vasel_

_500 hours (5:00 am)_

All was quiet on the German side of Vasel. Many of their men were sleeping soundly in their bunks with a select few keeping their eyes trained on the bridge. Keeping an eye just in case of a Gallian counterattack, though that seemed highly unlikely. With their small numbers combined with this morning fog it would be impossible for them to coordinate any successful attack on them. Right now they were simply waiting for their commanders to issue the order for them to cross the bridge again.

Patrolling right by the entrance to the bridge was a lonely German soldier. Trying to keep himself awake, the sleep deprived soldier took another look at the fog covered bridge. The morning fog that had arrived had managed to cover the entire area. It was so thick at the water and around the bridge that the soldier could barely see anything about twenty feet in front of him. If the Gallians did come across the bridge, his eyes would be useless by means of spotting them because once he did it would be too late. He would have to rely upon his sense of hearing to pick up the marching of boots or the roar of tank engines that would come across the bridge. Of course though, he wouldn't have too right now. When nightfall approached, the Germans used the bridge controls to raise massive drawbridge, denying the Gallians a chance to counterattack. Since there was no immediate danger, he wondered why his commanding officer told him to keep watch over the area. That is if he could keep himself from falling asleep.

He had been doing lookout duty since midnight, and only had a few hours of sleep. His eyelids would almost close before he suddenly jolted himself back up. And each and every time it would take him a little bit longer to get himself to wake up. If this would continue he would eventually fall asleep. The penalty for falling asleep while on watch in the _Wehrmacht_ was high. It could range from being given a dishonorable discharge to being executed by firing squad. And neither of them sounded good to him at the moment. He had to keep himself awake, had to keep his eyes open and on the bridge. But his resolve for doing so was giving in fast.

Ultimately, he reasoned that since it was unlikely that the Gallians would attack, he decided that it wouldn't hurt if he took a quick power nap. He walked over to a small building next to the bridge. The building housed the controls and the generators which controlled when the bridge would come up if a ship came by. Thankfully for the Germans, this building was on their side of Vasel, out of enemy hands. The German strolled up right next to the door to the building, leaned against the wall, and quietly slid down until he was siting. He then took off the rifle slung over his shoulder and placed it by his side before tilting his helmet over his eyes. He then began to quietly drift to sleep, snoring away quite loudly.

His snoring was so loud that he was unable to hear the sounds coming from the banks on their side of the river. There were bubbles that were beginning to surface near the waters edge. Soon the bubbles began to grow in number and appeared more ferociously. Suddenly, the _Edelweiss_ came out and made it's way onto shore. Once it had completely settled on dry land, Welkin opened up the turret hatch and began to remove the waterproof modifications while keeping the projector on. As he was removing them he surveyed the area around him and saw that there were no German forces in the immediate area. That could of only meant two things. Either they were completely unaware of their presence, or they were hiding somewhere in the dense fog. Welkin figured that it was more likely the first one. He then reached for a lever inside the turret which traversed the turret till the barrel, along with the projector was pointing towards the river. He then took the metal slider that covered the projector and slid it on and off in a Morse Code kind of fashion.

He then waited for several minutes, hoping that they managed to see the light even through the thick fog. Then a few dozen faint shapes began to appear in the distance. As these shapes drew closer, Welkin could now see that it was his squad slowly rowing towards the shore in small rowboats. He had instructed them to row slowly in order for them to not make any loud noises that would alert the Germans to their presence. This operation depended on stealth and secrecy. And if the Germans became aware of them before they could carry out their objectives then they would all be in very huge trouble. And by trouble, he meant dead.

Soon, the first boats managed to reach the shore, the squad carefully got out of the boats and pulled them onto shore. They had replaced their standard issue Gallian weapons with captured German ones since that was all that was available to them at the moment. But sadly, ammo for their weapons were low so they only had two to three clips or magazines for each one of them. They would have to take extra magazines from the enemy once they had killed some of them. Until then, they would have to avoid any unnecessary confrontations with the Nazi troops. And if they did, then they would have to make every shot count. Once they had all gathered together, they along with the _Edelweiss_ began to slowly make for the designated rendezvous point that Welkin had told them to go to, making sure that they could be as quiet as possible.

* * *

Slowly and surely they made their way through the streets of Vasel, trying to be as quiet as they could. The fog had lessened up a little bit so they could see a bit more clearly and farther than before. Unfortunately, this made them much easier to be spotted by the Germans, which added only more tension to their seemingly hard mission. Each of them had their weapons at the ready in case they had run into any unexpected trouble.

They could have been moving a little bit faster if not for Oscar and Karl. Despite being injured during the German counterattack yesterday, the both of them insisted fervently to take part in this mission, at least Oscar did. After much pleading, Welkin decided to let them take part as long as they would stay behind them at all times and not do anything reckless. Right now they were inside the _Edelweiss_ since it would be safer for them in there than it would be for them out in the open with everyone else.

As they neared the end of the street and began to turn the next corner before the lead Scout, Ramona, signaled for them to halt. She then quietly asked for Alicia, Rosie, and Largo over to the front to see what she was seeing. They walked up to her and peaking around the corner slightly and saw the bridge along with the German defenses they had set up to protect them from a Gallian counterattack. A set of four Pak40 anti-tank cannons, two on each side, had been set up behind a line of sandbags placed upon the sides of the main road to the bridge. With their range and hitting power, combined with the thin armor of the Gallian tanks, they would be able to hold back their tanks without any little effort. They could also see that on the top floors of several of the buildings they had blown them open in order to place MG42 machine guns along with a few snipers to knock out the infantry. And from their position, they could mow down a lot of the Gallian infantry before they could cross the bridge. In what appeared to be a large parking lot, the Germans had converted it into a tank depot. There was probably about a dozen powered down tanks parked there. Ragnite containers, which carried fuel for the Panzers, were scattered all around them, with the Ragnite inside glowing blue in the dark night. There were also some strange objects being kept under large fabric covers. No one in the squad knew what were under them, but they could guess that it was most likely a certain kind of weapon.

"Doesn't look like they've set up any major defenses here. Why though?" wondered Alicia out loud, but in a whisper so that they didn't wake any sleeping Germans.

"With the kinds of weapons they have in their arsenal, they don't need much if they want to kill us before we even step foot here," replied Largo in the same hushed tone.

"That's good to know but how do we take them all out?" questioned Rosie, her voice just a little bit louder than the two.

Before they could say anything more, the Panzers in the depot roared as their engines were brought to life. Crew members for the tanks sprinted in in groups of five as they entered their tanks to prep them for battle. While they were entering the Panzers, the trio were beginning to hear the sound of marching boots coming down the road. From the glow of the streetlights appeared on the ground a long line of shadows that seemed to be heading towards the bridge. Alicia, Largo, and Rosie ducked behind the corner as to mask their presence while managing to keep an eye on what was going on. Soon, there appeared a formation of Wehrmacht soldiers marching towards the bridge. They marched in a formation of ten by ten men, with their weapons presented as if they were on a parade. Eight of those one hundred man squares marched past the group and continued marching towards the bridge. After they had past them, the Panzers at the tank depot moved out and followed behind them, using the sides of the road as they made their way to the front of the column. After they had all passed, Jack walked up to the trio and warned them "Those guys are heading towards the bridge!"

"We need to move closer towards the bridgehead. We'll be able to get a better look there," suggested Largo.

"Alright then, let's move. But be careful. They still don't know that we're here and I'd like to keep it that way," cautioned Welkin.

* * *

The German soldier sleeping by the control shed snored so loudly that somehow he had managed to drown out the noise of the loud thunder of tanks and the marching boots of his fellow soldiers taking position near the bridgehead. He continued to snore like this for several more minutes before he was suddenly and rudely awaken by a voice shouting "_Holen Sie sich bis du Faulpelz!_"

He awoke flailing his arms wildly before grabbing his rifle and began pointing it erratically as if he was under attack. After a few moments he regained his senses and looked to see that it was now approaching dawn with the sun just peaking over the horizon, and there was a soldier in front of him, hunched over and laughing his ass off. He quickly summarized that this man was the one who had awoken him and apparently the sight of his dazed awakening was funny enough to get him to laugh. His expression began to form into a scowl as he got up onto his feet. When the other solider had dialed down his laughing a bit he growled _"Das war nicht lustig."_

The second soldier stopped laughing, stood up straight and replied gleefully _"Du hast recht. Das war hysterisch. Sie sollten Ihr Gesicht vor wenigen Augenblicken gesehen haben."_

_"Was ist los?"_ asked the formerly sleeping soldier, wanting to know why he was so rudely awoken. His counterpart answered _"Das Bataillon ist immer bereit, ausziehen. Sie brauchen uns, um die Brücke zu senken. Komm schon."_ Soon the two of them walked into the building. Inside there was a massive that took up most of the space. It was connected to a series of winches and pulley's that were used to raise and lower the bridge. There was also a control panel with various switches, dials, and buttons to help the process. And finally next to it was a large lever stuck into the ground which ultimately was the tool used to control the bridge.

As the first soldier went to work on the control panel, his counterpart stood guard next to him with his rifle. As the first soldier flipped the first few switches, the generator in the room began to power up. The large turbine that made up the center of the generator began to spin slowly before picking up the pace. As it spun faster and faster, the Ragnite used to power it caused the generator to glow blue and blue jolts of electricity to fire out from it, causing the guard to take a few steps back out of fear that he would be electrocuted. Once everything was set, the soldier operating the control panel reached for the lever and pushed it all the way forward. The Great Vasel Bridge creaked and moaned as the bridge was slowly lowered into position to create a straight and narrow walkway leading towards the Gallian positions.

Squad 7 managed to find a safe place to watch near the bridgehead. They hid next to a series of abandoned buildings that separated them from the German column while also keeping them away from view by the German soldiers inside the bridge control building. They had managed to get a better view of the enemy troops that were preparing to cross the the first row there were four Panzer IV's lined up side by side with two of the 100 man square behind them. It repeated itself three more times for a grand total sixteen Panzer IV's and over eight hundred infantry, a battalion strong force that was dedicated to taking back the city once and for all. As the bridge gradually lowered into position, Welkin, as well as the others could tell that once those troops made it across, everyone was done for. Even though they had managed to repel the German troops yesterday, the force they were up against now was much larger than the previous one.

"That's gotta be a whole battalion. Most likely about eight hundred troops in all," said Hannes.

"Oh man, look at them all. We are so fucking screwed," said a worried Hermes.

"Well Lieutenant, what's your brilliant plan say now?" scoffed Rosie as she summed up their odds of success. She didn't know what had possessed her to agree to taking part in this mission in the first place, but now she was left wondering if she was going to even live to see tomorrow.

Welkin stood in view of his troops from the turret hatch of the Edelweiss. He pointed over to the the building placed next towards the bridge and explained "That building over there controls the bridge. If the Germans cross and we set the bridge to raise then..."

"We send an entire Nazi battalion into the river," summarized Largo, with a slight smile appearing on his face.

"It'll help even the odds for us a lot," remarked Ted Ustinov.

"But we'll still have to deal with the remaining two hundred Nazis left here," warned Catherine.

"Taking on two hundred Germans seems like better odds than taking on a thousand of them," said Ted's friend Melville with Cherry adding "I like, totally agree with Mel here."

"Whatever we're going to do, we need to do it fast. Cause right now it looks like the krauts are about to move out," informed Montley, pointing at the bridge. The squad followed his gaze and saw that the bridge was now finally set in place. One of the tank commanders in the lead row of Panzer IV's appeared through the turret hatch, shouted _"Battalion, ausziehen!"_, and the convoy began to move forward at marching pace across the bridge. Wanting to not waste this opportunity, Welkin ordered "Jack take a small group and get that bridge raised now!"

"On it boss!" responded Jack before pointing at Marina, Ramsey, Edy, Homer, and Ted to follow him. Slowly and quietly, they sneaked over to the control building, making sure they were unseen by the advancing German battalion. When they reached the door, Jack took point with the others standing right behind him. Jack turned his head to then, placed a finger upon his lips and uttered out "Shhhh,". The five of them nodded their heads in agreement before readying their weapons. Jack then returned his attention back to the door. With his right hand holding his Stg44 assault rifle level and pointing forwards, and his left hand quietly opening the door he lead his group into the room where the two Germans stood.

Jack had to admire the beautiful piece of engineering he had in his hands. For an infantryman, there were two kinds of weapons available to them. Bolt-action and semi-automatic rifles as well as rapid fire sub-machine guns. The rifles fired high-powered bullets, had long range, and were very accurate. But they had a slow rate of fire, were cumbersome in close range, and carried few rounds. Sub-machine guns had a large magazine capacity as well as a high rate of fire. But they had limited range and accuracy as a result. The Stg44 combined the hitting power, long range, and accuracy of a rifle with the large magazine capacity and rate of fire of a sub-machine gun and combined it into one gun. They soon designated it as the Sturmgewehr 44 or Stg44 for short, where the word 'Sturmgewehr' translates to 'assault rifle' in English, hence the name. The Germans revolutionary innovation in small arms soon drove other nations to develop their own version of the weapon for their own armies. But sadly none have entered service yet so the German Stg44 remains the only assault rifle currently in service.

There backs were faced against them and they seemed to be completely oblivious to their presence. When they were all in the room with their weapons pointed at the Germans, Jack broke the silence by calmly announcing _"Guten Morgen Leute." _The two Germans turned around and the expressions on their faces instantly changed from being calm to surprise and shock. Standing right in front of them were six Gallian Militiamen, weapons aimed at them. At first the two Germans thought that they could try and shoot back. But the fact that some of the Gallians were armed with automatic weapons and the close range between the two groups meant that shooting back with their Kar98k bolt-action rifles would be utterly fruitless. Even if the two Germans could get a shot off from their rifles and managed to kill one or two of them, the remaining four Gallians would still gun them down without a second thought. Armed with that information, the two Germans dropped their weapons upon the ground and raised their hands into the air to surrender.

Jack, Edy, and Marina took the two Germans and placed them in the other end of the room. While Jack and Edy keep their weapons trained on them, they had Marina do a pat down on them to search for any further weapons on them. Other than their bayonets, and a few stick grenades, there was nothing else of importance. Meanwhile, Ramsey and Homer were working on the control panel, trying to figure out how to set the bridge to raise while Ted stood by them by the large lever, watching the German advance across the bridge from the window.

"Their almost halfway across! Can't you guys hurry it up?" asked Ted, in a more serious demeanor than his usual self.

"We're almost there. Just a few more seconds and, there!" shouted Ramsey as she and Homer finished the preparations for the bridge "Pull the lever, quick!"

As Ted grabbed the lever with both hands, he looked out the window one last time to the Germans and remarked to them with a smile _"Auf Wiedersehen _assholes," before pulling the lever back with all his might.

* * *

The German column continued to march across the bridge, now having past the halfway mark and getting closer towards the other side. Suddenly the bridge jerked under their feet. The troops and tanks stopped dead in their tracks as each of them began wondering what had just happened. Soon the ground beneath them began to shift and was becoming uneven. Soon, the realization hit them all like a rock: Someone was raising the bridge!

They broke formation, everyone and everything frantically trying to get back to their side of the river. But as much as they tried, their reaction was too little, too late. The bridge was now being raised at a steep angle. The troops lost their footing and began sliding down and falling into the river in droves. Some tried to hold onto the railing for dear life but they eventually lost their grip and joined the comrades in the river. The Panzer IV's fared no better. Their tracks skidded and scraped the surface, tearing up the platform as they furiously drove the treads to the breaking point. Once the bridge had gotten to a certain point, they too fell to the river, crushing any soldiers they landed on and sending the crews inside to a watery grave below.

* * *

Welkin and the others watched from their positions and let out shouts and cheers at the sight of the Nazis falling into the drink. No one could blame them, they had just pulled off something incredible. The odds of the battle had now gradually shifted towards their side, so it was fine that they should celebrate a little bit for reason's sake. All around they shouted chants and insults at the Nazis as they were consumed by the river below.

"Ha, ha, take that you bastards," laughed Noce.

"How's the water krauts?" exclaimed Claudia.

"I bet you didn't see that coming did ya?" shouted Alex.

Unfortunately, they had forgotten about the remaining German troops within the city. The sound of their cheering soon alerted them to their presence. When they saw their bridge being raised they wondered at first what was going on. Was there a malfunction in the control room? None of them knew. But now everything had been made clear. Somehow the Gallians had crossed the river and had just taken out the majority of their forces. They had to be taken out and fast. The only question: Where the hell were they? Their answer came when one of the German soldiers caught a glimpse of them standing by the railing by the control room as they continued to watch the Germans fall. He alerted his comrades to them by shouting _"Die Gallians! Sie sind dort! Erschießen!" _before letting off a burst at Squad 7 with his MP-40. His comrades followed suit and opened fire on their enemy.

The sounds of gunfire and bullets whizzing by their heads brought Squad 7 back to reality as they ran back behind the building for cover, even taking a few pot shots at the Germans as they ran. Once they had all gathered, Vyse, Freesia, and Salinas took positions by the edge of the building and began to return fire at the enemy troops. By now, the gunshots had probably alerted every Nazi on the East bank to the fact that they were there. And it was evident since the number of troops coming towards them and shooting at them seemed to be increasing. The sheer volume of fire being showered onto them was so intense that it had caused the trio to take cover behind the building to protect themselves.

Soon the squad heard a strange creaking noise and looked to see that the bridge was being lowered. Right after they saw that, they heard a loud bang and saw Jack laying cover fire for his troops as they ran to rejoin the group. Salinas and Vyse joined him to help get the others to safety. They ran as fast as their legs could carry them, hoping that they wouldn't get shot in the process. Once they had all safely rejoined the group, Jack ran towards them as well with them giving him cover fire as well. On the last leg of the run, Jack did a quick slide towards the group, narrowly colliding with the building.

"Cutting it a little close there, aren't you Corporal?" uttered Largo before firing a shot from his Gewehr 43 at a German soldier then quickly ducking behind cover.

"What's war without a little recklessness?" responded Jack as he got back on his feet. He then looked towards Welkin who was on top of the _Edelweiss_ and asked "What do we do now? We're going to have every Nazi on this side of the river after us if we don't think of something fast?"

"Come on, it's just a bunch of soldiers. We can handle these guys. What else could they possibly throw at us?" questioned Claudia. Just as she said those words, Mica shouted at the top of his lungs "Oh shit! We've got Panzers incoming!" And true to his word came two Tiger tanks barreling straight at them. Each of them fired a shell from their 88 millimeter cannons with both shots missing. One shot simply hit the ground near their location and exploded harmlessly while the other smashed through the second floor of the building next to Squad 7 and lodging itself in the building on the other side of the street. When the shell crashed through the second story it caused bricks from the building and glass from the window to shower the squad. Each of them covered themselves with their hands and arms to shield themselves from the falling debris. Thankfully by the time it was over the only injuries were a few minor cuts and scrapes. After the threat had passed, everyone looked at Claudia with a look on their faces that said 'You just had too say it didn't you?'. Claudia simply smiled sheepishly before admitting "Spoke too soon huh?"

"Oh, you think?" said Alicia sarcastically.

"Alright listen up!" announced Welkin, causing everyone to divert his attention to him. "The rest of the Gallian forces are set to cross once the bridge is level. We need to keep the Germans occupied so that they can cross. We need to make for the bridgehead!"

"If it's one thing I know, it's how to keep a bunch of assholes occupied. Let's go introduce ourselves to the Nazis lads," announced Jack. Welkin moved forward with the _Edelweiss_ into open view of the Tiger tanks. Isara traversed the tank so that it's frontal armor stood facing the Panzers. The Tigers each fire another round at the _Edelweiss_, hoping to knock it out. One shot hit the sloped armor and was deflected while the other missed the turret by a few inches. The _Edelweiss_ returned fire, knocking out one of the Tiger tanks with a well placed shot to it's turret, blasting it to bits and engulfing the tank in flames. The remaining Tiger began to back up towards the main road before veering sharply to the left and up the main road. The _Edelweiss_ gave chase and followed the Tiger towards the main road. The rest of Squad 7 followed close behind, firing at the German infantry who were retreating along with the tank.

Once they had reached the intersection that connected the bridge with the main road, they were met with another round of gunfire. The Germans had managed to get crews to at least two of the Pak40's and were now shelling at the _Edelweiss_, trying frantically to knock them out. The infantry had also gotten up with their weapons as well, and had taken up position behind the sandbags and rubble littered around the area. They were also using the adjacent building to try and hit the Gallians from the flanks and from up above. The Tiger tank that was previously being chased by the Edelweiss was now positioned behind the Pak40's as support. In short, Welkin and his squad were up against a heavy wall of enemy fire as the tried to defend the bridgehead.

Even though the sun had now begun to rise, which brought enough light to help their aim, most of the Germans Squad 7 was now fighting had been asleep up until now and they were only awake due to the sounds of battle, causing them to grab their weapons and head out into battle in a hurry. As such they were slightly drowsy and tired which hindered their aim. They didn't have time to put on their full uniforms, going out in only their boots, pants, and white undershirts. Making them easier to spot in the early hours of dawn. But even though they were awaken so suddenly, they appeared to be as fearsome and deadly as they have been since the war started.

"For once we catch the Germans by surprise when they're sleeping, and I still feel like they're going to kick our asses," complained Rosie as she popped out of cover from behind a ruined wall and mowed down two Germans with her MP-40.

"If this war was supposed to be easy, we would have already won it by now," clarified Largo who was crouched next to her behind the same wall.

"Rosie, over here! We found something useful!" cried Hannes. Rosie looked to see him and Nils hiding behind a large object covered by a heavy cloth. He signaled for her to get over to where they were. Apparently whatever they found was probably very important. Waiting for the right moment, she bolted out of cover towards them. When she reached them, the two of them grabbed hold of the covers to reveal what the Germans were hiding underneath. Rosie's eyes widened with shock as the object was none other than a German Flak 38 anti-aircraft gun fully loaded with ammunition. The Flak 38 was a rapid fire gun that sported four 20mm cannons that were placed in a quad-mount and had a high rate of fire at over 1,800 rounds per minute. The Nazis used this to tackle enemy fighters that appeared at low altitudes as well as to take on infantry and light vehicles like trucks and armored cars. It had a bullet shield positioned in front of where the gunner and the two loaders would sit. It was large and thick enough to protect the crew from small arms fire coming from the front. And it was just the thing that they would need to take out some Nazi bastards.

Rosie couldn't contain her excitement and let out a "Oh, hell yes! This is what I'm talking about!" The three of them then took up positions on the gun with Rosie sitting in the gunners seat while Hannes and Nils sat flanking her in the loaders positions. Rosie grabbed a hold of a lever and began to traverse AA gun towards the German lines. The Germans had placed the gun next to the side of a building and angled it in a way that the building protected the Flak gun from the Pak40's and the Tiger tanks. However, it placed them with the side of the German infantry who were taking potshots at the Squad from a three story building in the opposing line of houses and behind the walls of sandbags across the road. Rosie looked down the sights and carefully lined up a bead on a large portion of the Germans that were taking cover. The Flak gun didn't have a trigger like modern firearms. It fired when the operator pressed his or her foot on a pedal placed near their feet. Once she was sure that everything was set, she slammed her foot down on that pedal as hard as she could and unleashed a withering horde of fire upon the Germans, the four barrels rattling with each shot.

The shells tore through the Germans, tearing through their flesh and bones like a meat cleaver. Their dead bodies laid bullet riddled in the street, their insides completely turned to mush. A few of them even had a gaping hole in their heads from when they took a shot there, with their minds now quite literally blown away. Some tried to run for cover or simply run in order to escape from the devastating firepower, but Rosie simply cut them down like rag dolls. She quickly made away with about a dozen or more so Germans before the Flak gun ran out of ammo. Hannes and Nils quickly went to work replacing the four empty magazines and putting fresh and loaded ones in their place. The Germans on the ground took advantage of this and began to fall back to the line with the Pak40's and the Tiger tank. Seeing this, Squad 7 began to advance forward a bit more, just stopping a few yards forward of their previous position while taking some ammunition from their fallen enemies as they moved. As the squad was advancing, Rosie noticed that the Germans inside the house adjacent to them were now apparently focused on them. From the shadows in the windows she could see them line up their weapons. And on the first floor, left side, they had brought up an MG42 with a bi-pod and placed it in a firing position.

Instinctively, Rosie yelled to her fellow soldiers, now finished loading the Flak gun, as loud as she could "Get your heads down, quick!" They reacted to her instructions a split second before they became pelted by small arms fire from the MG42 and other various firearms. They didn't hit them, only bouncing harmlessly off the metal shield they were hiding behind. Regardless, the amount of fire was enough to keep them pinned down and prevent them from shooting back. Even through all the gunfire, Hannes could swear that he heard a German inside the building shout out orders. _"Schnell, sie Nachladen! Tötet sie, bevor sie wieder abfeuern kann!"_ the German said. The three were so focused on hunkering down, they were completely oblivious to what was going on.

Alicia was sneaking towards the window where the MG42 was placed. She was slowly advancing towards them and keeping herself out of sight so they wouldn't notice her approach. She sneaked towards the window until stopping just outside the window, leaning against the wall to conceal herself. She was so close to the machine gun that she could just reach out and touch it. The buzzing sound the gun was making was so ear piercing that she was fighting the urge to cover her ears. Thankfully however, the noise was just loud enough to cover what she was about to do next. From her belt she pulled out a stick grenade and then waited for the Germans to reload. And with the high rate of fire with the MG42, she didn't have to wait long. The gun stopped a few seconds later. As fast as she could, Alicia pulled out the safety pin and hurled the grenade through the window. She jumped back behind the wall just before the grenade exploded. Wanting to make sure she had gotten them, she leaped through the window, trying to catch a glimpse through the the smoke caused by the explosion.

Alicia looked to the ground to see the blood soaked corpses of two German soldiers. One was lying against the wall next to the MG42. He appeared to take the brunt of the blast. His right foot along with most of the lower portion of his leg were blown to bits, leaving a bloody stump in it's place. He had also sustained significant shrapnel wounds to his torso, and his face was so wounded that he was barely recognizable. The remaining German in the room had similar injuries, but somewhat less gruesome. He was slightly farther away from the blast and only received shrapnel wounds. He was lying on his back, arms spread out like an angel. He had gotten most of the hits in the chest and facial area, blood pouring out from the more serious wounds. But was most disturbing was his eyes: They were wide open and looked as if they were staring at Alicia in a blank, lifeless stare.

Alicia suddenly became sick to her stomach and began gasping for air in a violent nature. She collapsed to her knees, eyes watering and thoughts racing. She thought she would be used to this. She had fought in several skirmishes already. Bruhl, the farmstead, Western Vasel, she had killed her fair share of soldiers. But they had fought at each other at a distance, not close like this. She hadn't seen the kind of carnage and bloodshed like what she was seeing now. Seeing this made her question if she was losing her very sanity. _Is this really what war is like? Am I really capable of doing things like this? _she thought to herself. She soon realized what war was really like. And it had shown it's true face to her.

Her moment was interrupted when the house began to shake and the sound of large caliber gunfire began to fill the air. She clutched her head and dived to the ground as her body reacted on it's own. What she didn't know was that her little stunt with the grenade didn't go unnoticed. Rosie had taken advantage of the situation and opened fire on the German troops that were positioned on the higher floors, unloading the Flak gun on both upper stories completely. The shells went through the brick walls with ease, even demolishing a few portions in the process. It caused debris to shoot into the rooms, ripping through the Nazis with ease and causing them to drop like flies from each hit they received. After the Flak gun ran out of ammo for the second time, Rosie stepped off along with the others once she figured that the Germans in the house were all taken cared of.

The German officer in charge of the Pak40 crews bared witness to the destructive firepower unleashed upon his fellow troops by the Flak gun. The sheer shock of the attack, coupled with the brutal wounds that it had afflicted, had somewhat shaken the man's resolve a bit. He along with the crews had momentarily halted their fire as they could only watch in horror as the carnage unfolded before them. After the firing had subsided, looked forward only to see the Gallian Militia squad they had been shooting at along with their tank had now taken advantage of their pause to resume their advance towards their position. The Gallian tank halted it's advance for a moment before firing a shell at the Tiger tank parked next to the anti-tank crews. It went straight through the front armor and exited the back, making it's way cleanly through the engine before finally striking another building behind them. The Tiger's engine had caught fire due to the hit. Smoke began to billow out from the holes tat the shell created as well as from the tank hatches, implying that smoke was now filling the inside as well. The hatches flipped open, with more smoke pouring out as well as the tank's crew, desperate to escape their burning tank. As the crew collapsed onto the ground, their faces were shown to be covered in soot and they were coughing furiously as the smoke filled their lungs. The worries of the officer were only added when one of the crew members gestured for him to look at what was coming up behind the Militia squad.

The officer took a look through his binoculars and saw that the rest of the Gallian forces, both Militia and Regulars, were charging across the bridge to join the fighting across the river. Now the Germans had reason to worry. With most of their forces sent to a watery grave, the Gallians now had a real shot at retaking the city. And with the number of tanks and infantry coming across right now. It would only be a matter of time before his crews would be overrun. In an effort to try and save them, he put down his binoculars and ordered _"Fallen zurück in die Kirche! Schnell, schnell!"_ The crews dropped everything as they abandoned their guns and made for the other end of the city. Squad 7 continued to pursue them until they reached the Paks. Once they had completely stopped, Welkin opened the turret hatch and looked behind to see the rest of the Gallians pour out of the bridge and begin to fan out in different directions throughout the city, determined to root out any Nazis hiding within. But as the main force moved into the city, two Gallian tanks, as well as two small squads of Regulars trailing behind them, moved towards Squad 7. They stopped just short of the group. The two tanks opened their turret hatches and out appeared Lieutenants Faldio and Read.

"You did a fine job here Welkin. I'm still amazed at how you managed to pull this off let alone convince the Captain to go along with this," commented Faldio with a smile upon his face.

"Yeah, but the plan's only halfway done. We still have a lot of work to do," clarified Welkin.

"I agree. While the rest of our forces circle around, clearing out the Germans on our flanks. We should move out through the middle and clear out any enemy holdings. Then we meet the others and combine our forces for a joint attack on the remaining enemy troops," informed Read.

Welkin nodded in agreement before given out the remaining orders to his troops. "Alright then. Rosie, you and Jack take the Shocktroopers and Scouts and lead the column. Largo, have the remaining troops stick with the tanks and offer fire support. Alicia will..." Welkin was about to continue but noticed that something was off. He looked around for a moment before realizing was was wrong: Alicia was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Alicia? Anybody know where she is?" he asked, hoping someone had an answer. There were a few moments of silence before Dallas spoke up and explained "I think Miss Alicia was still in that building back there."

"What building?" questioned Read.

"The one that we turned into Swiss cheese over there," explained Jack as he pointed towards the building. The others looked to that same building, still somewhat smoking from the havoc unleashed upon it. Soon, thoughts of worry began to appear in Welkin's head. The amount of damage to the building made him begin to think that Alicia got hurt during the fight. _Was she injured? Is she even still alive? _he thought as he tried to figure out what to do next. He soon cleared his mind before issuing another set of orders to the group. "Jack, Take my place here on the _Edelweiss_. I'm going to check up on Alicia and see if she's alright," he said. Before anyone could object he had already hopped out of the tank, Colt 1911 in hand as he raced over to the building.

As the others watched him run off, Faldio only broke their silence by saying "Well you heard him. Jack get up onto the tank. Once your up and settled, we move out. No more questions, we've wasted enough time already."

Jack opened his mouth to object but nothing came out. Instead he let out a sigh and replied back in a mumble "Yes sir." As Jack climbed up the _Edelweiss_ and into the turret he thought up in his mind _What is it with Welkin and women? He's known Alicia for little over a month and he's already racing off to save her? He's known Lieutenant Read for a few days and he's gotten her to develop a crush on him. Is there something here that I'm missing? Does he have some kind of charm on him or something that makes ladies like him? _Jack let those thoughts go away once he was inside the gunners seat inside the _Edelweiss_. Once Faldio saw this, he then gave the order for everyone to move out. The _Edelweiss_ led the column, followed by the two light tanks and infantry. All heading straight for the town hall.

* * *

Welkin peered through the shattered window to see what it was like inside the building. He saw debris and shell casings littered about the floor and large craters in the walls for when the 20mm shells tore through the building. But Alicia was nowhere to be found, which only made him want to investigate the area more. He slowly moved towards the door to open it. He had barely touched it when the remains of the door fell apart and collapsed onto the floor, creating a loud crash as it landed. Welkin cringed for a moment after it fell, knowing now that any chance of finding Alicia stealthy had just dissipated in an instant.

Welkin made his way past the ruined door and began calmly strolling through the front rooms of the house, pistol raised, in hopes that Alicia hadn't been killed. After going through a few rooms and turning up nothing, he managed to stumble upon the room where the German machine gun team had been killed by Alicia's grenade. Avoiding the elephant in the room, meaning the dead Germans, he spied something else entirely. He noticed boot treads in the dust that had littered the floor, boot treads belonging to Gallian Militia boots. And there were more, creating a small trail that went out of the room.

During his nature walks, Welkin had become quite the adept tracker. He could easily identify a specific animal based on their footprints, the spacing between the individual steps, and the pattern in which they moved. From that experience, he could summarize that Alicia was at some point in this room before leaving. And judging by how far apart the individual steps were, she apparently left in a hurry. The question that appeared at the moment was why? _Was she running from the enemy? No, not likely, if it was that then there would be more than one set of treads. Maybe she was chasing someone? No again. Just doesn't seem likely _Welkin thought. What was certain was that Alicia was definitely trying to get out in a hurry.

* * *

Alicia barreled down the alley like a madman, hoping to find someplace quiet and solitary. After a few solid minutes of running, she managed to find a quiet place near the end of the alley that connected to the street. There was a large dumpster that stood next to the door where she laid her back against before sliding down to the ground and onto her knees. Alicia's eyes began to water up and she soon lost control over her emotions. She began to sob and wail uncontrollably as the thoughts of her actions began to haunt her to no end, her cries only muffled by the _pop_ of gunfire and the _boom _of explosions. She had managed to escape that building while Rosie was shelling it. And it was a good thing too. If she stayed in that room with those two dead soldiers, she would have lost her mind right then and there and scream in agony for what she had done. Those two men she had killed looked no older than she. And now they laid dead in a foreign land. _Is this what was has become? Young kids killing each other without any sense, mercy, or compassion? _she thought, trying to figure out the reason for this. She tried to reason that this was necessary and it was all to defend Gallia. But no matter what she told herself, no manner of self talk could stop her from crying her eyes out in grief.

She cried for several minutes before suddenly she heard the door on the other side of the dumpster fly open and hit the wall with a loud thud. Instinctively, she managed to muffle her crying and crawled quickly behind the dumpster to avoid being spotted. The sounds of footsteps hurriedly racing out and away from her towards the street. The sound stopped after a few seconds. Curious, Alicia peaked from the corner to see what was going on.

From what she could see, there were three German soldiers hiding behind the the corner of the building on her left were lined up in a row, with one directly behind the other. From what she could make out, these guys were apparently waiting to ambush an upcoming Gallian squad. The one farthest from her had an MP-40 sub-machine gun while the next one had a Kar98k. The last one was dressed a little bit differently than the first two. Instead of the _Stahlhelm_ helmet the Germans usually wore, he had on instead a field cap. There was also a large backpack placed on him that was filled with what appeared to be warheads to the brim with equipment. But the most unique feature he had with him was the choice of weapon.

He had with him a Panzerfaust, a common German anti-tank weapon. When she was being trained into the Militia, they gave their new recruits briefings on the various German weapons they would encounter in this war. One that they described was the Panzerfaust. The weapon translated into English as 'armor fist', and it was the most common German anti-tank weapon for a lone soldier with the _Wehrmacht_ producing them in millions. It consisted of a small, disposable, pre-loaded metal tube fitted to launch a high-explosive, anti-tank warhead. The warhead itself was about 60 millimeters wide. Smaller than the caliber of their Panzers, but still as deadly. To fire the gun, the operator had a pressure switch they squeezed with their hand which propelled the warhead forward. Despite the weapon being designed to be disposable, they choose to make it re-loadable as well, which helped the operator to knock out multiple tanks in a single battle. Seeing him with that weapon she figured they saw a Gallian tank approaching them and were waiting for their chance to knock it out.

And true to her thoughts, she could hear the sound of a tank, thundering towards their location, coupled with the sound of machine gun fire. Alicia looked out at the street to see German soldiers running for their lives, red lit tracers from a machine gun flying all around them. Some tried to fire back at whatever was chasing them, but were cut down by bullets and slumped down onto the ground. Alicia's full view became blocked due to a Gallian light tank appearing in front of the Germans on the other side of the street, it's side completely exposed to them. It had stopped so that it's gunner could line up the gun to fire on the fleeing Nazis. The turret traversed to line up the shot and fired. The flash of light that covered the tank in a split second was all Alicia needed to confirm that the shell had hit it's target.

For the Germans, the time had come for them to strike. The one with the Panzerfaust took a step sideways and raised the weapon for firing. His target wasn't the side armor of the tank, but the blue glowing Ragnite radiator on the tank's rear. This was a common design on most nations armies throughout Europe and the world. This was to help vent off the heat given by the engine burning the Ragnite fuel that powered it. The radiator had to placed outside the tank and in the open because if it was placed inside the heat would quickly build up and cause the engine to overheat and most likely explode. However, this presented a major problem as well. If a tank shell or any explosive object struck the radiator then the tank'e engine would end up enduring the same fate as it would if the radiator was inside. And tank crews from every nation were taught to at all times try to score a hit on the enemy tanks radiator to knock it out of action both quickly and in only one shot.

Seizing the chance presented to him, the Nazi squeezed the pressure switch and sent the warhead flying. The exhaust blasted out of the hole on the Panzerfaust's rear and when the warhead left the launcher. It flew straight like an arrow at a high velocity until it struck the radiator, destroying it in a violent blast along with the engine. Due to the large amount of Ragnite fuel in the tank, the explosion was black with a bright blue hue instead of an orange-red mixture like they are commonly. And the flames that had consumed the rear portion of the tank displayed the same bluish hue as well. As Alicia stared into the strange color of the flickering flames, she could also see the crew of the Gallian tank exit their vehicle and try to escape. But before they could try and make a run for it to friendly lines, the other two Germans walked out of the alley and began firing at the unarmed and defenseless tank crew, cutting them down to pieces with withering fire from the sub-machine gun and precise shots from the bolt-action rifle. After a few moments of firing, the Nazis reloaded their weapons and looked upon the Gallian tank crew that now laid dead. Either lying on the cold stone road or strewn over their tank as they tried to exit.

"Hmph, Gallian traitors," grunted one of the Germans in English as he finished loading his weapon. By now, Alicia knew that she had to do something instead of crying her eyes out and hide like a coward. She ducked back behind the dumpster, and took a deep and silent breath as she managed to regain her composure. She then took a quick look at what she was armed with. She still had her bayonet with her, tucked inside of it's sheath as well as a fully loaded Colt 1911 in her holster. Unfortunately she had no extra magazines for the weapon so she would have to make due with what she had with her at the moment. As she began to take a peak at the Germans but she applied a little too much pressure on the corner which caused it to move, making a squealing noise with it's wheel. The German with the Panzerfaust who stayed behind in the alley heard the noise and turned his head sharply enough to catch a glimpse of Alicia as she jumped back behind the dumpster for cover.

"Hey, guys. I think I saw something here," he called out to his allies before slowly inching forward to investigate what he saw. His fellow soldiers moved to join him after they heard him call out to them. They managed to reach the entrance into the alley before their comrade managed to reach the other side of the dumpster. He looked down to see a female Gallian Militia soldier, lying completely still. At first, the Nazi thought that she was dead. But to see if it was true, he kicked her in the arm slightly with his boot. No response. He turned back to his comrades and explained "There's a Militia soldier here. I think she's dead. Strange, for a moment I could have sworn-"

His sentence was cut short when Alicia suddenly jumped up from the ground, bayonet in hand, and pulled the German by the tunic hard onto the ground behind the dumpster before stabbing him deep in the chest with her bayonet, killing him instantly. This came as a surprise to the Germans who were obviously taken aback by what they had just witnessed. They however swept it aside in order to deal with Alicia. The two of them immediately raised their weapons and opened fire on Alicia, whom was still in cover. The shots flew all around her, striking the ground, pinging off the metal dumpster, or simply missing it completely and continue their way down the alley. They soon took cover together behind the brick wall of the building on their left so they could reload for another volley.

Alicia's thoughts scrambled as she tried to figure out what to do. There were two Nazis out there against one of her. She had only one clip of ammo for her pistol compared to the many more her opponents had. And to top it all of, even if she managed to kill one of them, the other would surely get to her and silence her with a bullet or two. She had to come up with a way to take them out, or otherwise she'll be dead before noon. Then, she spied something. The German she had stabbed earlier with her bayonet had reloaded his Panzerfaust with a fresh warhead sometime after he knocked out the tank but before he went to check on her.

She grabbed the launcher and wrestled it from the German's dead hands and familiarized herself with it for a moment. Rocket launchers weren't something that they taught Scouts how to use in the Militia. But given the circumstances, first hand experience seemed necessary. Once she had a rough idea on how to fire the gun, Alicia rolled out of cover, launcher aimed at the brick wall the Germans were hiding behind. As she was about to fire, one of the Germans peaked his head out to see what was going on. When he saw Alicia with the Panzerfaust in her hands, he freaked out, shouting _"Scheiße, Scheiße, Scheiße!"_ before Alicia activated the switch on the launcher, sending the warhead flying. The kickback from the launch caught Alicia off balance, making her fall hard on her ass as the blast sent her backwards. As for the rocket, once the warhead hit the building it exploded, demolishing a large portion of the wall and sending bits of bricks and clouds of dust everywhere.

When Alicia came to, she walked over to the remains of the wall, leaving the empty Panzerfaust tube back by the dumpster. Once she made her way to the wall she looked down to see only one German soldier, instead of two. His face seemed bloody and bruised. Most likely caused by the multiple blows to the head due to the bricks being sent flying all around him. Before Alicia could get a clear guess on where the other German soldier went, she was suddenly and unexpectedly hit in the head by a seemingly hard and blunt object. The hard and sharp blow made her fall to the ground, face first, and left her in a dazed state as she slowly crawled away. She didn't make two feet when a hand grabbed one of her ponytails and yanked it hard to the right, flipping her over and bringing her face to face with who was attacking her.

It appeared that second German managed to avoid the same fate of his comrades, though not completely unscathed. He had a massive cut on his forehead with blood pouring down over his face. His left sleeve was torn to shreds with his tunic and pants slightly hinged from the heat of the blast. It appeared that he had received wounds on his arm as there was also blood flowing down his arm and on his hands. In his right hand was the empty launch tube of the Panzerfaust, which he managed to grab after sneaking around the wall behind Alicia.

Wasting no time, he quickly dropped the tube before kneeling on top of her. With his bloody left hand he grabbed hold of her throat and began to squeeze it tightly. Alicia frantically tried to wrest his hold on her all the while struggling to breath as he continued to constrict her windpipe. But it was all in vain as his grip was too strong despite his wounded arm. The German then reached for his belt with his free hand and pulled out a knife with a deep serrated edge, the blade glistening from the light of the morning sun and blue flames. Alicia's eyes widened with horror when she realized what this meant for her. She doubled her efforts to resist and break free but she hadn't managed to even loosen his grip on her. The German stared at her with a demented and sadistic smile on his face as if he was going to relish what he was about to do next.

"Quit your squirming you Gallian rat!" he spit out at her, showing the blood that had filled his mouth. "You're going to die here. Just like every one of your traitorous kind," he continued before raining the blade high over his head, pointing it downward towards Alicia. "I'm going to make you bleed. Like a stuck pig," he claimed before preparing to lunge the knife into Alicia. But before he could begin, the sound of three gunshots pierced the air. The German seemed to pause for a moment. His blade feel out of his trembling hand before he looked down to see three bloody holes in his chest, grouped very tightly together right where his heart would be. Blood began to pour out of his mouth and onto Alicia's tunic before he fell on his side, letting her go and falling off of her in the process. Alicia looked up to see Welkin standing a few yards in front of her, pistol aimed with the barrel still smoking.

After a few moments of standing still he rushed over to Alicia, placing the pistol back into his holster as he ran. Once he reached her he slowly got her to sit up as he checked her for injuries. Other than a blood covered throat as well as a bump on the back of her head, there was nothing very serious. He then noticed how Alicia wasn't speaking so he decided to speak first. In a soft and concerned tone he asked her, "Are you okay?".

"A little shaken, but I think I am," she responded though there was a hint of uncertainty in her voice. "Why are you here?" she asked.

"You ran off without telling anyone, so I came to find you," he answered truthfully, choosing to ignore asking her again based on the tone of her voice.

"But what about the rest of the squad?" she asked, concerned about what he did with them.

"It's alright. I left Faldio and Mary in charge. They're moving up with the rest of the army to take the enemy command center. Which is where we should be going now," he explained.

* * *

_0712 hours (7:12 am)_

Boom. An explosion by caused by a shell from Faldio's tank had just annihilated another German MG position. By now, the column led by Squad 7 were pushing the Germans back towards their command center in the church. Even though they faced some stiff opposition, they were finally clearing the way towards their final objective. Now they were on the final stretch of the trip, with the church right in front of them. The German flag draped from the bell tower over the front door standing apart from the grim landscape.

Jack led the group from the_ Edelweiss_ with Read and Faldio's tanks flanking it on both sides and the infantry spread out around them but not far away as well as a few of them riding on the rear of the tanks. In front of them were several groups of German troops fleeing from them into the safety of the interior of the church. As the man got inside, they quickly closed the massive wooden doors to prevent them from entering. Meanwhile a squad of German soldiers remained outside to try and prevent the Gallians from capturing the church. The odds however were against them since they were only a group of infantry up against an even larger group supported by three tanks.

"Alright we're drawing close now. Everyone start squirting that area ahead. Let's finish this now," ordered Read from her tank.

"Roger that, ma'am," responded Jack as he cocked the handle on his .50 Browning and letting loose a hail of fire. The rest of the tanks followed suit as well as the infantry. Firing every rifle and machine gun they had at the German positions. To the Nazis outside the church, they kept themselves hidden behind cover as the volume of bullets around them increased each passing second. Due to their training, many tried to fire back with their own weapons but were cut down the moment they popped out of cover, reducing their numbers quite rapidly. And the bullets that didn't strike them or the area around them instead struck the church. Breaking it's ornamental windows and burrowing themselves deep within the walls and the heavy wooden doors as well as causing damage to the inside when some passed through the shattered windows.

As Jack was peppering the enemy, his gun jammed. When he moved to clear the jam he looked to see Susie, one of the soldiers riding on the _Edelweiss_, simply stare at what was transpiring in front of her with a frightened look on her face. In fact, it appeared that she hadn't fired her weapon at all during the entire battle.

Jack grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her violently, grabbing her attention. "What the hell are you doing? Shoot now!" he yelled at her.

"What do I shoot at?" stuttered Susie.

"The Nazis you dumb broad. Kill the fuckers before they kill us all!" he explained before returning to his gun, which after a few moments he had un-jammed. He quickly got his finger back onto the trigger and continued firing away at the enemy. Susie hesitated for a moment before closing her eyes shut and fired forward blindly out of fear. The trio of tanks soon halted a dozen meters from the church doors and with their machine guns, cleared out the remaining German troops outside it's walls. Once they were finished Jack looked to Faldio and said "See if you can clear us a way in."

Faldio responded to that by ordering the crew of his tank to fire upon the church doors. The tank turret traversed to the right before it lined up with it's target. And with a mighty thud it's 75 millimeter cannon fired. Colliding with the door and breaking it off their hinges while simultaneously smashing them to hundreds of splinters.

"Come on kiddos, let's get into the fight," shouted Rosie enthusiastically while signalling for the others to follow her lead. She then charged forward, with the rest of Squad 7 following right behind her. Not only that, but they were also being joined by Jack, Faldio, and Read who had climbed out of their tanks and grabbed a weapon from one of the dead German soldiers. When they entered the church, they expected to be met by groups of soldiers armed and ready to kill them. Instead they walked in to see a German officer, slumped dead on the other side of the floor along with almost two dozen German troops standing up, weapons on the floor, arms raised high, and all shouting frantically at them_ "Bitte nicht schießen! Wir ergeben uns! Wir ergeben uns!"_

"Jack, tell them to get on their knees. Jane and Coby, cuff them," ordered Faldio. The three of them followed those orders. Once Jack translated what Faldio wanted to tell them, They all unanimously got on their knees where Jane and Hannes tied their hands behind their backs. The rest of the squad set about securing the room, while the Regulars searched the basement and the bell tower for other foes, though turning up empty handed. As Read scanned over the room, she eyed the dead German officer and instantly recognized him. "Well I'll be damned. It's this asshole," she commented with disgust in her face.

Faldio noticed her reaction and asked her "You know this guy?"

"This is, or rather was, Captain Hans Schneider. He was in charge of the Nazis we encountered at the farm where we were ambushed. This guy wiped out most of my company before Welkin's squad rolled in to drive them back. Once they appeared he fled the fight like a coward.," she explained, recalling the events of the previous day. For there was no doubt in her mind who this man was. And from the looks of his injuries, he didn't die in the battle. For his only injury was a single gunshot wound to the right side of his temple. Read looked down at his hand and saw a Luger pistol still firmly in his grip. It appeared like he couldn't face the reality in front of him and instead chose to take his own life instead of facing the humiliation of surrender.

"Looks like he killed himself rather than face surrendering," summarized Faldio.

Mary let out a light scoff before admitting "Yeah, but the truth is I really was looking forward to putting a bullet in the bastards head myself. But now It seems like it wouldn't have been worth it. This guy was a coward until the end. He wouldn't be worth the bullet."

"Lieutenant Landzaat," called out a voice. Faldio looked behind him to see Largo standing in front of him. Largo continued with "The buildings secured. No more krauts inside. And we just got word that the remaining Germans have fled the city."

"What about Lieutenant Gunther and Sergeant Melchiott?" asked Faldio, concerned about his friends.

"They'll be here," answered Largo. Faldio let out a light smile before looking over at Jack and ordering "Contact the Captain and tell her what's happened."

"Roger, dodger," he replied before taking a radio and dialing in the correct frequency to contact Varrot. Soon the radio crackled to life as Varrot called from the other end "This is Captain Varrot here. What's going on?"

Jack let out a hearty laugh before explaining "Start drinking your champagne Cap'n. Cause the Nazis have fled the city! Vasel is ours again!"

* * *

Translations in order of occurrence

1\. _Holen Sie sich bis du Faulpelz! _\- Get up you lazy bum!

2\. _Das war nicht lustig. _\- That wasn't funny.

3\. _Du hast recht. Das war hysterisch. Sie sollten Ihr Gesicht vor wenigen Augenblicken gesehen haben. _\- You're right. That was hysterical. You should have seen your face a few moments ago.

4\. _Was ist los? _\- What's going on?

5\. _Das Bataillon ist immer bereit, ausziehen. Sie brauchen uns, um die Brücke zu senken. Komm schon. _\- The battalion is getting ready to move out. They need us to lower the bridge. Come on.

6\. _Battalion, ausziehen! _\- Battalion, move out!

7\. _Guten Morgen Leute. _\- Good morning folks.

8\. _Die Gallians! Sie sind dort! Erschießen! _The Gallians! They're over there! Shoot them!

9\. _Schnell, sie Nachladen! Tötet sie, bevor sie wieder abfeuern kann! _\- Quick, they're reloading! Kill them before they can fire again!

10\. _Fallen zurück in die Kirche! Schnell, schnell! _\- Fall back to the church! Quickly, quickly!

11\. _Scheiße, Scheiße, Scheiße! _\- Shit, shit, shit!

12\. _Bitte nicht schießen! Wir ergeben uns! Wir ergeben uns! _\- Please don't shoot! We surrender! We surrender!

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	19. Aftermath of Cloudburst

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes only.)_

_Eastern Vasel _

_1230 hours (12:30 am)_

_"At that moment of the day, the squad was still in utter shock about recent events. A single squad of common Militia troops had achieved a seemingly impossible task. They had knocked out a large portion of a Nazi regiment of one thousand men and retook a fortified city. All of this while receiving no casualties at all. Everyone member of Squad 7 was still alive, with no one either dead or wounded. Well, except for one very shaken Alicia who had nearly gotten strangled and stabbed by a crazed German soldier. The rest of the Vasel Battalion showed up later that day and helped secure a route for other Gallian forces to pass through onto areas on the front where their help would be most desperately needed. Our squad along those who had helped retake Vasel were taking a breather. After all, we deserved it for what we had to go through to take this piece of rubble. Many saw this as as a steeping stone for the Gallians in this war. A tiny nation had just managed to score a decisive victory against the Reich. What many had deemed impossible, had been accomplished. For the Gallians, this was a sign of hope. For the Nazis, they saw this as a symbol of defiance. But for Squad 7, this was the first step on a memorable adventure." -Jack Lawrence_

After everything that transpired in the early hours of April 16th, the Gallian flag once again flew high and proud over Vasel once more. The Gallian forces had now settled in nicely into the city. And after clearing the main road of any large debris, it became the main highway for their troops. The main streets was filled with tanks, trucks, half-tracks, and jeeps going to the front and back to Fort Amaranthine. This victory was a major boost for the Gallian morale. Ever since the war started they had been losing battle after battle, retreating faster than the Germans could catch them. For many in the Militia and the Regulars, they hoped that this would mark the beginning of a counter-offensive along the front lines.

Meanwhile, outside of the church. Captain Varrot had called together Welkin and the rest of Squad 7 together to discuss about the results of this mornings battle. They all stood in front of her with a few sitting atop the _Edelweiss_. When Welkin first came to her with his plan, she thought that he had lost his mind. The sheer depth of how crazy the plan sounded made it seem like it couldn't possibly work. She had half a mind to say no right on the spot. But after witnessing what had just happened, she was glad that he had proven her wrong. Now she was glad that she had the honor to congratulate these men and women on their extraordinary performance in the battle.

"Vasel is back in our hands again thanks to your efforts today. You set an example today for the Militia," said Varrot, praising the squad. "And to you as well, Lieutenant Gunther, for making all of this possible," she said.

Welkin gave her a quick salute and responded back "Thank you ma'am. But in truth you should be thanking the others. I couldn't do this without their help."

Varrot let out a light laugh before continuing "Either way, there are no words to describe how glad I am at this moment. And besides, it appears that you've won that bet after all Lieutenant."

Welkin was taken aback by what she said. _How did she know about that? I didn't tell her that _he though as he tried to figure out how on Earth she managed to find out about the bet. "You don't have to look so surprised Lieutenant. Sergeant Melchiott and Corporal Gunther told me all about that," she explained. _Well that's one mystery solved_ thought Welkin.

"While I don't agree with you making a bet in the first place, I'm willing to let it slide due to your success today. And since you've won the bet, I'm keeping you as the leader of Squad 7," she finished.

A sense of relief fell over Welkin as he let out a sigh. For a moment there he thought that he was going to relive the whole conversation he had with Varrot yesterday when he took the Western bank of Vasel. He was relieved that he had now been proven wrong on that. And even though her congratulations was welcome, it wasn't the one that Welkin needed to hear. "I appreciate the praise Captain. But right now, I'd like to know my squad's opinion," he explained as he turned around to face the others.

"So what do you guys think? Are you going to listen to my orders from now on?" he asked. There was an awkward moment of silence between everyone. No one said anything either due to the fact that they didn't want to admit anything or if they have nothing to say at all. Welkin began to worry a bit that they were going to go back on their word and try to have him ousted again. Things continued that way until Cezary broke the silence by admitting "Eh, what the hell. I've got nothing better to do anyway."

"You got my vote," added Ted.

"What we just did today was crazy. But we still won, so I guess I'll follow you," said Coby.

"We got a lot of Nazis today. That's what counts for me. Keep this up, and I'll follow you," mentioned Oscar, using Karl to help support him on his injured leg with Karl clutching his bandaged side. Karl soon added "Yeah, what he said."

"You just might have the chops to lead this bunch after all. Count me in," exclaimed Hector.

"Yeehaw! I smell an adventure ahead. Count me and Aika in!" shouted Vyse exuberantly.

"The show isn't complete without it's star! Count me in!" mentioned Edy.

"Was there ever any doubt? We're in," said Juno, speaking for herself, Noce, and Susie.

"Let me be the first to admit that you are probably the craziest kid that I've ever met," admitted Largo "But when I make a bet, I honor my word. I'll follow you." Welkin was glad that he was now along for the ride. He figured that Largo would be the hardest to convince out of all the squad members. So his endorsement would go a long way. And it did. After Largo said his piece, one by one the squad fell in line and spoke out their endorsement. This continued until the only one left who hadn't said anything was Rosie. She stood next to Largo, arms crossed over her chest, with an upset facial expression. She stood like that for several minutes with all the squad's eyes on her before Welkin asked her "Well, what do you say?", wondering what her response would be.

She finally started talking after a short while and her response wasn't entirely what Welkin had expected. "You may have the balls for this. I'll grant you that," she started. She then pointed over to Isara, Jack, and the rest of the foreigners and Darcsens in their squad and sternly finished with "But that doesn't mean I'm going to trust them." She then proceeded to stomp away from the group. Alicia moved to stop her but was stopped herself when Welkin put her arm out to stop her.

Before Rosie could get past the Captain, she stood in front of Rosie and blocked her path. Rosie stopped dead in her tracks. With a scornful look on her face, Varrot explained to her "No one's asking you to trust them Corporal Stark. What we're asking is for you to work with them." Varrot then gestured with her hand to look at them which Rosie regretfully did. Just looking at them made her stomach turn into knots. "If they get captured by the Germans they will die _slowly _and _painfully_. You can bet that they'll be fighting on our side till then," she explained further, placing emphasis on the words 'slowly' and 'painfully'.

Rosie could see where the Captain was coming from. But although she understood her, it didn't change how she felt about them one bit. Americans like Jack left Gallia and Europe for dead in the Great War. And even though he along with Aika and Vyse were helping now, it was too little, too late. As for the Darcsens, their past was all that she needed to affirm her doubts about them. They brought destruction upon the Europa long ago, and they may well do it again in the future if they could. But then again, there was one fact that the Captain got right. The Nazis held nothing but hatred towards the Darcsens, and they didn't appreciate foreigners getting themselves involved in their affairs, no matter how noble they intentions. If they were captured by the Nazis, they would face a fate worse than death. There, Jack would likely be handed over to the _Gestapo_. And from what she heard of them, these guys would keep Jack in so much pain and suffering for weeks. It would be so intense for him that he would only wish that he was dead. As for Isara and the other Darcsens, they would most likely be herded into the ghettos and concentration camps. There they would spend the rest of their lives as slave labor for the Nazi war machine. For these people, there was no choice for them: Either fight for Gallia, or end up Nazi prisoners. Finally, Rosie let out a light scoff before turning around and walking back towards the group.

Once she had returned to her place within the squad, Varrot looked over to Squad 7 once more and spoke once more to finish the meeting. "After your accomplishment today, I'd say that you all deserve some time to kick back and relax. Until I give you your next mission, I suggest that you take some time off and relax here. Until then, you're dismissed." She gave them a salute which they responded back with in kind. After she began to walk away, the Squad soon began to talk among themselves in small talk. Before they could engage any further when they all heard a camera flash. They all turned towards the sound to see Koller standing a few yards away from him, camera in hand, with a big fat smile on his face.

"Ha, Ha. You guys did it! Hail the conquering heroes!" he sang and doing a small little jig while he said it before letting out a light laugh. "That was truly spectacular Mr. Gunther. If I may say so, I think you could give General Patton a run for his money," he commented as he walked over towards Welkin.

Largo took one look at the guy and instantly recognized him. "Wait a minute here. You're that reporter," he said. Koller simply offered him a nod and replied back "Ah, you're right. The name's Alistair Koller. I work for the New York Times. And as of today, I've been assigned to your squad as the war reporter." He then proceeded to show him a badge clipped to his trench coat showing the new I.D. he had been issued with by the Gallian Militia. On it was a picture of him including a message that said _"Alistair Koller. War Reporter for Militia Squad 7 of the 3rd Regiment"_.

"I never thought I'd see you again Koller," commented Jack, now entering the conversation. When Koller saw Jack his face lit up with surprise, as he went over and shook Jack's hand. In complete shock at seeing a familiar face he asked with surprise "Captain Lawrence! How wonderful to see you again! What are you doing here?"

"It's actually Corporal Lawrence now. And I volunteered with the Gallian Militia. I'm serving as the Quartermaster for Squad 7 and Lieutenant Gunther here," explained Jack, still shaking Koller's hand. Welkin was a little surprised that the two of them knew each other. He rubbed his chin as he tried to figure out how that was possible. Meanwhile, Largo and Rosie were wondering the same thing. Along with trying to wrap their heads around the fact that Koller just called him 'Captain Lawrence'. They knew that Jack said he had served in the U.S. army in the Soviet-American War, but what surprised them was the fact that he was once a Captain.

"How do you two know each other?" asked Alicia who had been apparently thinking the same thing as everyone else. Jack turned around to face them and explained to them "When I was serving on the Alaskan Front, Koller here was there as the war reporter. He did a few stories about me and my men during the course of the war. Though I have no idea why he decided to bother with me in the first place."

"Well how could I ignore it," explained Koller "The son of America's Secretary of State, the Hero of Anchorage, Medal of Honor recipient, and so much more. You were a literal gold mine for reporters back then as you are now."

"A fact that I'm so often reminded," commented Jack sarcastically. And if Largo and Rosie weren't confused before, they most certainly were confused now. _Secretary of State's son? Hero of Anchorage? Medal of Honor recipient? Who the hell is this kid? _they thought to themselves, now more bewildered than ever. Koller than looked at Welkin and asked him sincerely "By the way, is it possible for me to take a picture or two of you and your squad? I need one for the article I plan on writing about today's events."

Welkin simply shrugged his shoulders before answering back "Sure why not. I don't think that the others will mid at all." Once he said that, everyone in the squad became very excited at the chance to be in a newspaper, most likely the front page. Even though Koller didn't specifically mention that they would be 'on' the front page. Welkin signaled for them all to get into position so that Koller could take the picture. They stood side by side next to the _Edelweiss_, with some of them standing atop it or sitting. Jack and Isara took a Gallian flag and held it out to face the camera, both kneeling down so that they didn't cut anyone out of the picture. Welkin, Alicia, Largo, and Rosie stood behind while the others took positions around them. Once they were all in position, Koller took a few steps back so he could get the whole squad in the frame. He then held up the camera to his face and the camera flashed repeatedly as he took well placed pictures of the squad.

* * *

_Hours later, just after nightfall_

Night had now fallen upon the Gallian garrison inside Vasel. By now most of the Vasel Battalion had been sent father up ahead towards the front lines, leaving the Militia along with a few squads of Regulars behind to defend the city. They were now just relaxing, taking a rest from the hard few days of fighting. Squad 7 was huddled around a campfire feasting on their rations along with those of the Germans that were lying around when they fled the city. After eating a few German rations, they could tell that they had better food than what the Gallian Militia gave them. For the Germans, their rations included cheese, bratwurst, sauerkraut, strudel, chocolate, cigarettes, beer, and fresh bread (though not as good as Alicia's whom had brought some to share with the others). They had also had some other goodies that Captain Varrot had given them for their hard work such as Coke, cigars, and steaks. As they ate away, they were engaging each other in small talk, listening to other's stories, telling jokes, or telling each other about their adventures. Right now they were listening to Largo as he mentioned an experience he had during the Great War.

"-and so I empty the clip of my rifle on the krauts. Then I realize that there's still one left. I jump down into the trench on him, grabbed the bayonet from his belt and with two stabs I take the bastard out," explained Largo, now coming to the end of his story.

"Only two stabs? Why? Did you drop your cigarette or something?" joked Rosie, causing the rest of the squad to chuckle a bit . Welkin could only look on at what was happening in front of him and just smile. It was times like these that brought people closer together. Times when people would come together, share their experiences, and laugh at each others blunders. Jack had told him once that things like these are what helps a squad grow together and become a team. And he also said that these moments are the ones from the war that they'll cherish and remember for ages to come. Welkin wanted to make sure of that. He wanted to make sure that everyone in his squad will make it home safe and alive.

As Squad 7 continued to eat away at their rations, Jack got the nagging feeling that people wanted to ask him about what Koller said about him. He could tell because every once in a while they would eye at him for a short while before going back to eating. From of the look on their faces it seemed like they were going to consider asking him before suddenly reconsidering it. This had been going on for the past twenty minutes, and it was beginning to get on Jack's nerves. If they had something to say to him, he would prefer them say it to his face instead of behind his back. Finally reaching his breaking point, he dropped everything and let it all out into the open "Okay I know you guys want answers for earlier today. So if you do then just ask now and get this over with."

Everyone went silent as they tried to figure out who would speak to him first, and who actually had the courage to open their mouths and say it to him. The one who spoke first was Dorothy, the shyest person in the entire squad. "Um, why do they call you the 'Hero of Anchorage'?" she asked openly, though slightly frightened.

Jack let out a light sigh then explained his story "It was 1932. I was fifteen years old and the war had just begun. I was a Corporal fresh out of officer's training and given my first assignment which was with a company from the 101st Airborne Division guarding Anchorage. Now Anchorage is a major port city with Alaska, and our orders were to keep the Reds out of the city. Things were pretty quiet there until...until," he said, hesitating when the memory began coming back to him.

"Until what?" asked Juno, quite sincerely. Jack took a few moments to collect himself before admitting "Until the Russians fired poison gas on us." Everyone started gasping in shock over what they had just heard. Chemical weapons like poison gas were made during the Great War in an attempt to break the constant stalemate on the front lines. It was a colored gas that did horrendous things to it's victims. Some blinded them, burned their skin, suffocated them, or shut down their nervous systems entirely. It truly was a terrible way to die. and many from both sides of the conflict died at the hands of this terrible weapon. When the Treaty of Versailles was signed, therefore ending the war. Armies stopped producing them, and according to the Geneva Convention of 1920, the manufacture and use of these weapons were made illegal and those responsible for using them would be tried as war criminals. To think that anyone today would even be willing to use them at all was appalling.

"When the gas started dropping I ran and hid in an abandoned fuel tank. I sealed myself inside and waited for the gas to dissipate. After a few hours I..I came out and... and everyone was dead. Well, almost everyone. There was about eleven other soldiers my age who managed to escape the gas too. But other than that...nobody survived," explained Jack, growing more and more upset as he continued with his story. All the while everyone was listening intently on what he was saying. As he continued to tell the story, the only emotion they felt was empathy towards him.

"We gathered together and buried the dead. We then radioed to headquarters for reinforcements and were told they would arrive tomorrow. But by then we had bigger problems. We found out that about half a battalion of Russian soldiers with armored support were on their way towards us. And at the rate they were advancing, they would reach us long before our guys would show up. We all knew we had to do something," continued Jack.

"So what did you guys do?" asked Walter.

"We fought back. The entire night we fought. We still had our orders, and we knew what would happen if the city fell. All of us figured that we'd save more lives if we stayed. Since most of the Russians we were fighting were raw recruits it helped even the odds a little bit but...we were still outmatched. By the end of the night, just when dawn showed up, we were exhausted, wounded, and out of ammo. We were just about to surrender. Thankfully the rest of the 101st showed up. They drove the Russians out and retook the town. After that, Patton came, gave me this medal and made me a Lieutenant," he finished, puling out his Medal of Honor to show the others, the medal glistening in the light of the fire. After a few moments, he placed it back under the U.S. flag wrapped around his neck.

For Rosie, who was siting right next to him, she could see the pain and hurt that laid deep within his eyes and no doubt was also deep within his soul. It surprised her how he was acting. Ever since she met him yesterday, he seemed and acted like a carefree, courageous, humorous, yet serious person. What she was seeing now was a totally different side of the young American. What she saw was a young boy, frightened, depressed, and scarred mentally by the horrors of war that he had endured. He survived all of them, but still the nightmares that he faced would haunt him for the rest of his days. Rosie, like many other Gallians, may have held bitter feelings towards America, but for some reason she had forgotten all of that as she felt only empathy for the poor boy in front of her.

"Even now I...I never felt like I deserved any of them. Felt the same way when they made me a Captain in 34'. They call me a hero, a model soldier, but I never was one. I was just some kid who hopped on the war wagon and hid like a coward at the first sight of danger. I lived while others died. To this day I always wonder why I'm the one who survived when others didn't," Jack explain remorsefully, almost on the verge of tears.

"From what I heard of, I didn't know it was possible to break an American like that," admitted Vyse.

"Well, there's a lot about my country that you don't know about. Our past isn't that glamorous. You people think my country is a land of rainbows and happiness. But would you ever believe a land like that used to have slaves?" said Jack, spitting out the last part. Everyone's eyes widen at the mentioning of the word 'slaves'. Nobody in Squad 7 really knew much about American history so this pretty much came as a shock to them.

Realizing what he just said, Jack let out a heavy sigh before continuing "Well, looks like I have to explain it now huh. Well listen up and listen good because I'm only going to say it once. You probably know that in Colonial America the Europan powers that colonized it had Darcsen slaves brought in. When the American Revolution kicked into gear, the Continental Congress decided to end the slavery. However, the plantation owners in the South weren't exactly happy that their work force was just taken from them, so they found a loophole that they could exploit. They created something called 'Indentured Servitude', which was pretty much slavery but under a different name. They took felons from prisons, guys from a bunch of different races, and promised them things like reduced sentences, pardons, and such if they worked for ten years on a plantation. The reality was much different. They worked long hours, were forbidden to leave the plantations, and most were never given what they promised. In the end, the argument over this started a civil war over the issue. And after four years of war, and six hundred thousand deaths, we won. And it ended."

"Even if that's true, what about today? All I hear about from other Darcsens is how great America is," asked Nadine, still trying to wrap her head around the revelation that America once had slaves.

"Well minds have changed a lot since then, America's idea of equality has now been realized. But there are still a few hardliners in the south who don't think kindly of Darcsens. And besides that our country isn't in the best shape right now. We just got out of a long and terrible war with the Russians, and we're in the midst of an economic depression. So don't go around saying that America's perfect cause we're not. And I'm sick of people saying that. None of you have any clue about what we've gone through," he finished. He then bowed his head as people tried to figure out how to respond to that. Here was this American pouring all the pent up sorrow he had held inside of him for years just come pour right out right in front of them. They didn't have a clue what to do. But it seemed that Rosie did.

With a slight smile on her face, she nudged Jack on the shoulder before admitting "You know what kid. Your alright." Jack snapped his head upwards at the sound of her voice and looked at her, completely confused. The first words that uttered out of his mouth were "I'm sorry, I think I heard you wrong. It just sounded like you gave me a compliment."

"Why is that a surprise?" she asked, her grin never fading.

"Because you and half this motley crew, no offense, have done nothing but fling insults at me ever since this whole thing started! You've hated me since day one!" he reminded her.

Rosie let out a light laugh before explaining "I didn't like you because I thought you were just another pompous, spoiled American. Seeing you right now, well. You can say that I guess I was wrong about you. And I'm not normally one who admits that."

"From what I can see right now Jack, you're a good person. I thought of that when I first met you, and that's what I think of you know," added Welkin.

"I agree. And I don't think you're a coward Jack. In fact you're far from it," said Alicia.

"You stood up for me and Welkin. I'll always see you as a friend," complimented Isara.

"I doubt that the U.S. military gives away promotions and medals like candy. I'm sure that whatever recognition you got, you probably deserved every one of them," finished Largo, showing Jack the first smile he has ever given him. Hearing all this made Jack feel better about himself. _Maybe I have been a little to hard on myself _he thought. If two people like Largo and Rosie could believe in him, then maybe he could too. With all the sadness now washing away, his expression turned dramatically before grabbing a fresh bottle of Coke. As he took the cap off he said "Thanks guys. Now enough sad talk, who's up for another round of drinks?" A unanimous cheer came throughout the group as they each grabbed their drinks. They went back to telling their stories as the night continued on.

_"We spent that entire night at that campfire. For a motley band of misfits, I had to hand it to us that we were probably the best band of misfits in the whole Militia. We knew that many trials would lie ahead for us, we chose not to worry about them at that moment. Right now all we needed to worry about was to keep the beer away from our twelve year old Shocktrooper Aisha and the other underage members of our squad. But even though we celebrated throughout the night, we ad no idea the events that were going to happen on the German side. What they were about to do would bring a whole new level of intensity to this entire conflict. And would soon bring Gallia to the very brink of defeat." -Jack Lawrence_

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	20. New Recruits

_(Note:I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Outskirts of Eastern Vasel_

_ 0830 hours (8:30 am)_

It was the morning after Operation Cloudburst had been launched. Much of the Gallian garrison was now outside the city in a series of makeshift camps. It was a sea of white as tents both big and small, parked tanks, and military personnel moving about. Each section of the camp was reserved for a single squad and was set at a precise distance from each other. Here the Gallian forces were recollecting themselves, checking on their equipment, repair their vehicles, and receive new recruits or orders.

Jack spent the early part of his day doing his duties as the Quartermaster of Squad 7. He was in one of the tents, taking count of the numbered of captured German weapons and writing them down on a clipboard with numerous amounts of paper attached. So far he had summarized that the Nazis left a lot of their crap behind when they decided to turn tail and run. They left about half a dozen Panzer IV's, a dozen armored cars and trucks, hundreds of small arms, thousands of bullets, numerous barrels of Ragnite fuel Ragnoline, and finally dozens of Panzerfaust tubes with about two to three shots for each tube. To any army, it would be a blow to lose that much, but for the Germans, they could make due with those losses in a few weeks when at war with a tiny nation like Gallia. But up against a nation like America or the Soviet Union, that would be a different story. For the Gallians however, this many captured supplies was a huge boost for them. The Panzers, armored cars, and trucks would be repainted and put to use for the Gallian military with the captured fuel being used to power them. The German small arms would go a long way to arm any units low on weaponry and the Panzerfausts would be extremely helpful in dealing with German armor.

All the while that Jack was doing this, he was struggling to keep himself from falling asleep due to the pointless and boring job that had been assigned to him. _Why the hell did Varrot decide to make me the Quartermaster for Squad 7? I'm a soldier, that's what I know what to do. I had and never will have any intention whatsoever of being a goddamn supply clerk for a band of misfits. Yet here I am, _he thought as he doubled check the number of crates stored within the tent for the second time to make sure he didn't forget one. Once he was finally sure that he had it right, he wrote the number down upon his clipboard. He then put the pencil into his pocket before exiting the tent. He didn't make it within five feet from the tent when he herd a voice call out his name from behind.

He turned around to see a Gallian Regular armed with a Mags-M4 come up towards him with a group of six armed Militiamen following close behind him. From what Jack could tell, the first five Militiamen each belonged to at least one of the five classes of infantry. The last one however he wasn't so sure. He wasn't carrying any kind of weapon, not even the standard issue pistol and bayonet, just a small black book in his hands. Also, he had no armored plating on him whatsoever. Yet he wore the same uniform and gear that the rest of the Militia were issued with like the canteen, ammo pouches (which were empty), and the container for the gas mask.

When the Regular meet up with Jack he pointed at the Militiamen and informed him "These are new recruits, just out of training. Varrot has assigned them to your squad." The Regular gave him several sheets of papers which held the details on these recruits.

Jack acknowledged him with a nod and then commented "Very well. You're dismissed Private." The Regular gave Jack a quick salute and proceeded to leave in the opposite direction. Jack now looked over the new recruits while pulling back out his pencil and looking over the pages of Squad 7's new recruits. After he had finished looking them over he signaled for the group to follow him which they did. Now Jack had to introduce these new recruits to Welkin. That is, if he could find him.

* * *

Welkin, along with Faldio was inside one of the larger tents in Squad 7's designated area of the camp. There Welkin was using the tent as his temporary office and living quarters. In it he had a wooden table he would use as a desk as well as a few chairs with Gallia's national flag draped on the wall opposite of the entrance. there was also a large board which showed the current positions of German and Gallian positions in the area. The Gallian positions were marked in blue with the German positions in red respectfully. And finally there was a small cot placed on one side of the tent, leaving the middle of the tent wide open and free of objects. In the tent, the two of them were discussing about the effects that the battle had now caused upon the war effort and how it's made the Militia look upon Gallian High Command.

"Thanks to what you did, the state of affairs between the Regulars and the Militia is starting to change. The Generals up in High Command are angry about the fact that their troops couldn't do anything, that it was the Militia that won the day. Now they have to pay attention to us from now on," explained Faldio, seated in one of the chairs next to Welkin's desk. He looked over to Welkin, seated opposite of him, to see him arms crossed, staring down at his desk. But more likely staring into space.

"Hey, are you there Welkin?" called out Faldio. This seemed to get Welkin back into reality as he jumped out of his daze and looked back to Faldio before replying back "Huh, oh sorry."

"What's got you so out of it? Are you in love or something?" chuckled Faldio with a smirk. All the color from Welkin's face seemed to drain. He waved his hands in front of him all the while proclaiming "N-no. Nothing like that."

Faldio chuckled at Welkin's reaction. It seemed to him that he had gotten his assumption right. "Bingo huh? Even the leader of Squad 7 has trouble with his heart? Might it have something to do with a certain beautiful officer with the Regulars?" asked Faldio.

Welkin could only slump his shoulders at the mention of 'beautiful Regular officer'. From what Faldio was suggesting it was obvious that Jack had managed to tell him about the conversation between him and Read yesterday after the German counterattack. _Typical Jack. He just has to tell everyone what happened. Well at least if it was something that amuses him, which no doubt the situation did, _thought Welkin. Even though Jack had stated to him multiple times that there were times that he couldn't understand how Welkin's mind works, there were also times where the situation was vice-versa. When Welkin couldn't understand how _Jack's _mind worked.

"Let me be very clear here Faldio. THERE-IS-NOTH-ING-GO-ING-ON-BE-TWEEN-ME-AND-READ!" shouted Welkin, enunciating every syllable in that sentence.

Once again, a chuckle managed to escape Faldio's mouth before he clarified to Welkin "Don't worry, I believe you. Besides, I don't see you as the kind of person who would fall for a nobleman's daughter. Much less able to woo her over."

"I don't know whether I should be insulted by that or not," complained Welkin who honestly felt a little bit insulted by Faldio's remark. It was then that Jack peaked his head through the tent flaps. Welkin and Faldio both turned their heads and noticed him. Seeing that from the look on his face that he needed something, Welkin just straight up asked him "Is there something you need Jack?"

"Yeah, you might want to come out here though. There are some people you need to meet," he responded with a nod before sticking his head back outside with the rest of his body.

Knowing that he would have to cut their current conversation short, Welkin looked to Faldio and apologized "I'm sorry, I have to go." Faldio simply gave him a grin before getting up from his chair and responding back "No problem, I have to go to anyway. I have to get back to my squad and speak with my XO as well."

Soon the both of them began walking toward the exit. Faldio left first through the tent flaps followed by Welkin. When Welkin exited through the flaps, he saw Jack on his right, clipboard in hand. With another six Gallian Militiamen right behind him. At first Welkin was wondering why they were here in the first place. But soon he figured that they were probably the new recruits that Varrot had told him to expect to arrive today. And judging from the dossiers on them attached to his clipboard, that only confirmed his suspicions.

"Alright you maggots, listen up. This is Lieutenant Welkin Gunther, your new commanding officer. As of today, you guys will be following his orders. Listen to what he says, and you just might survive this war," Jack announced to the new recruits. Welkin could only crack a smile at his friends antics. Despite no longer holding the rank of Captain, Jack still had that sense of authority coming from him. This made others respect him and follow his orders. Most likely due to being part of the U.S. Army for several years. Welkin figured that his kind of discipline would help him shape up the squad into an effective fighting force.

Jack then looked over to welkin and informed him in a more calm tone "I figured that you should meet them before the rest of Squad 7 does."

"Okay then. Fair enough. Let's see who we've got," replied Welkin. The two of them walked up to the first person in the line. He was of the Scout infantry class. He was a big, tough, and burly man of about forty-three years of age. His eyes were brown, the same color as his hair which had all been combed back. There were some scars on his face, indicating he had seen his fair share of fights. There was some kind of aura around the man. One that showed that he must of been a veteran of the Great War like Largo, Varrot, and Coby. He had his a Gallian-M4 semi-automatic rifle attached to a sling which he kept slung over his shoulder.

"This is Private Musaad Mayfield. Scout class, Great War veteran, lifelong soldier, and from Bruhl. Same as you. Well the last one at least," announced Jack.

Welkin gave him a salute which Musaad replied with as well with saying "It's an honor to serve sir. Now that I'm here, you got this war in the bag."

"I bet we do. It's a pleasure to meet you as well Musaad," followed Welkin with a chuckle before moving along to the next person in the line. She was a young, beautiful, twenty year old Darcsen, evident by her dark-blue hair and eyes. Her hair was tied up into a ponytail and the cloth used to tie it bore the traditional Darcsen pattern. Judging from the heavier armored plating and the BAR that she was carrying, she was definitely a Shocktrooper.

"Name's Private Lynn. Shocktrooper class. From the city of Fouzen. Drill Sergeant said that she performed excellent in training," explained Jack.

"I look forward to serving with you sir," announced Lynn, giving him a salute.

"I look forward to serving with you as well," added Welkin.

The next one up was a Lancer. She was another young woman, seventeen years old. She had brown eyes that were the same color as her shoulder length hair, curled up at the ends. Like all other Lancers she carried the large Lancaar-M4 anti-tank launcher.

"Next up is Private Audrey Hei-, Hy-, Hyti-, um...," stuttered Jack, fumbling at pronouncing the young woman's last name.

"Heitinga. My name is Audrey Heitinga," said the young woman, finishing Jack's sentence.

With her name out of the way, Jack continued with "Anyway, she's a Lancer, obviously. Joined the Militia just a few days after the battle at Bruhl."

"You sir were totally my inspiration for enlisting. I heard all about your actions at Bruhl," mentioned Audrey with a wide grin while pointing a finger at Welkin.

Jack noticed how she said it. He leaned over to Welkin and whispered over into his ear sarcastically "Great, we have a fan girl in the squad. And apparently she's one of your fans."

Welkin simply let out a laugh before shaking Audrey's hand and saying to her "It's good to meet you."

The next person was an Engineer that was about thirty-eight years old. He had the large pouches and backpack like other Engineers. But his combed brown hair and eyeglasses that covered his brown eyes made him seem like a former accountant than a person who would elect to be an Engineer.

"Private Knute Jung. Engineer class. Apparently, he's very good when it comes to money," explained Jack.

"I'm ready to lay my body down for Gallia Lieutenant Gunther!" Knute proudly declared.

"Heh, I'm glad to see you so enthusiastic," complimented Welkin.

The second to last person was obviously a Sniper. This was due to the fact that Jack and Welkin had already gone through the other four classes and Sniper was the only one that they hadn't gotten to yet. He was a teenager of only fifteen years. His mop-like hair covered part of his freckled face and brown eyes. He appeared to be sick since he had let out a few coughs since this whole interview started. Jack was about to announce his name when he looked it over and saw what was written: _Emile Bielert_. This kid had the same last name as Oscar, one of their Snipers. _Are these two related? _thought Jack as he gestured for Welkin to read his name as well. Once he realized the same thing that Jack had noticed, He looked towards Emile and asked him "Your last name is Bielert. Are you by any chance related to Oscar Bielert?"

"He's my big brother. We're fraternal twins," answered Emile truthfully, followed by another few rasping coughs.

_That's one mystery solved,_ though Jack as he once more went on to reading what had been posted about Emile on his clipboard. "Okay then, moving on. Private Emile Bielert. Sniper class. Younger brother to Sniper Oscar Bielert of Squad 7."

"Well, I'm glad to meet you Emile," welcomed Welkin.

"I'm just glad to be here Mr. Gunther," replied Emile with a smile.

Now it had all come to the very last man. He was a man of about twenty-five years of age. He had short brown hair and green eyes. Unlike the other five, neither Welkin or Jack could tell what class of Gallian infantry this guy belonged to. Even though, he wore the standard issue uniform of the Militia, he had some features on it that seemed quite unique, and from what it looked like, they could only guess that this man was a chaplain. He had on a chaplains collar, where it's a black line around his neck with a white square right in the middle. He also had those a large right sash that was tied around his waist. And finally he had a copy of The Holy Bible in his hands along with a Christian cross attached to his necklace along with a large one tucked away in his sash.

"Okay then. Father Adam Hendricks. Rank is Corporal. No class verified. Comes from the St. Joan's Cathedral in Randgriz," explained Jack, now finished with the introductions.

"No offense Father but, you don't look like much of a fighter. What are you doing in the Militia?" asked Welkin, curious as to Father Hendricks's reasons for being in the field. Welkin found it curious that a chaplain would be here on the front lines. Normally they would stay at the home front, helping to keep the people's spirits up through prayer and church services. It was almost unheard of for a man of faith to volunteer for the front lines like this.

"Though the casualties in war are measured in the souls of those killed Lieutenant Gunther, there is also another casualty among the soldiers that they tend to forget: their spirit. War has an effect on your comrades morale. The horror they face can cause them to lose hope. I'm here to put their trust in Christ, to help calm their souls, and raise their spirits. As for Squad 7 I shall perform my duties as a chaplain for them as well. If you even need to confess anything to me or need some spiritual advice, I shall always be available to you," explained Father Hendricks.

Welkin ran that new information through his mind. It was true that this war would lead to some horrific moments. Events that would sure lower the squad's morale if they were very serious. They would need someone to talk to through all the bad moments of this war. And no doubt they may do things they won't be proud of. He could be there to help get them through those experiences and help them keep their faith. Both in themselves and in God. Perhaps they would need his services.

"Alright then Father. Welcome to Squad 7," announced Welkin.

Father Hendricks gave a slight bow to Welkin before informing him "Bless you Lieutenant. I won't let you down. And just to let you know. I may be a chaplain, but I still went through the same military training that everyone else in Gallia went through. I know how to handle myself in a firefight. The Bible generally preaches that 'Thou shall not kill', but I am willing to help defend others in need all the same. Just because I am a man of God, doesn't mean that I won't defend myself."

"Good to know then," complimented Welkin. He then looked to the others and informed them "Alright then. Since we're not in any combat now I want you all to explore the camp and interact with the other members of Squad 7. They already know that there are new recruits coming in so all you need to do is just introduce yourselves. That's all, you're dismissed."

All six of them stood at attention, gave a salute and shouted out in unison "Sir, yes sir." They all soon dispersed to find the rest of the squad. Father Hendricks and Musaad went off in one direction, Emile followed Jack to meet his brother with Lynn following close behind, though obviously Jack didn't notice her, and finally Audrey and Knute both went to find the others together. Welkin stood there for a while, watching them go off before seeing a Militia soldier approach him.

"Sir, Captain Varrot wants to see you," informed the Militiaman.

"Alright then, lead the way there. I'm afraid I don't know the exact way there," replied Welkin. The Militia soldier began walking, leading the young Lieutenant to where Varrot had set up her temporary command center.

* * *

Oscar laid on his cot within the medical tent as Fina finished her final examination of the gunshot wound to his leg. Karl was sitting on an identical cot just opposite of Oscar, already given the go ahead by Fina that his wound had healed. It took a lot of Ragnaid and a few stitches, but it paid off in the end. All that was left of Karl's wound was a small and faded scar. There was still some slight pain from time to time, but nothing serious. It only seriously hurt when someone gave him a tight hug, a lesson he found out the hard way. Other than that he felt the same as ever. He had become used to being in hospitals and doctors. In Karl's hometown, the industrial city of Fouzen, accidents were a common place while working in the factories. A few of those accidents happened to him, which led to his admission to the hospital a few times. So when it ever came to being in hospitals, he had no troubles with any tests or examinations. The same could not be said however for Oscar.

He was always impatient when it came to hospitals. Their tests took forever and he never like it when the doctors gave him bad news. With his current examination, every minute that went by felt like hours. And to add to that, his current stay in the hospital only made him want to leave more. That is if he could move both of his legs. The leg that had been shot had been given a combination of drugs in heavy doses which caused his leg to go completely numb. So far he had been given morphine, painkillers, disinfectant drugs, and Ragnaid. Normally a wound such as his wouldn't warrant that much. But the wound became infected shortly after the German counterattack so Fina had to apply a lot so that the wound would disinfect and heal more smoothly. And now she had just finished the final exam and wrote the results down on her clipboard.

Once she had finished writing, she took her eyes off the clipboard, looked at Oscar, and informed him with a smile "Alright. You're all cleared for duty now."

Running a hand through his hair, he proclaimed "About time. I thought I'd die here from boredom." As he was getting up, he placed his uninjured leg on the ground first. But when he put his medicated leg down, his numb leg bucked under his weight and Oscar tumbled downward. Fina's lighting fast reflexes kicked in, catching Oscar before he hit the ground.

"Maybe you should keep lying down until your leg isn't so numb anymore," suggested Karl, getting up from his seat.

"No, I don't need to. It's all fine. I think I can make it if I just...," countered Oscar. He tried to take another step but his numb leg once again bucked under his weight, with Fina having to keep him from collapsing to the ground. One thing for sure about Oscar was that he was pretty stubborn. Fina however, was stubborn as well.

"Oh, no you don't. You're going to lie down here and wait for the feeling in your leg to return. That's an order," she said sternly, lowering Oscar back onto the cot.

"Wait, did you just say 'that's an order'? How can you order me around? We're the same rank," pointed out Oscar in protest.

"Because as Squad 7's medic. When it comes to the health of it's members, I outrank everyone. So I'm ordering you as your doctor to remain here," clarified Fina "And if you don't listen to me or try to leave, I will take out my pistol and shoot your other leg just to keep you here."

"You're kidding...right?" he asked her, unsure if she was being serious or not.

He was given his answer when Rosie came through the tent flaps. Clearly she had heard their conversation when she looked at him and said "She's not kidding. She's been hanging around our Yankee Quartermaster. Learned a few things from him too. So if I were you. I'd stay right where you are." Oscar was about to disregard Rosie's statement and leave. He didn't believe one word she had just told him. There was no way that Fina, their medic, was going to shoot him just to teach him a lesson. But then again, he began to think about what Rosie said about her learning things from Jack. He had seen Jack in combat, and from what he saw, Jack was truly a very good person to have on your side in a fight, and a terrifying foe if he wasn't. He had a peculiar way of being a soldier, and what he might of taught Fina seemed to scare him a little bit. And it seemed that Fina had noticed that he was going to try and leave. She slowly reached for her Colt 1911 pistol, unstrapping the safety harness keeping it within the holster.

Noticing that, Oscar broke down from his desire to leave. He began shouting and pleaded "Okay! Okay! I'll stay here! Promise!". This was mostly to try and keep her from pulling out her pistol. It seemed to work as she slowly took her hand away from her pistol.

"Alright then," she started, her smile coming back onto her face "Just lie back down and in an hour or two the feeling will come back enough in your leg for you to walk."

Oscar followed her instructions just as Jack entered the tent. He looked over to Oscar and asked "You doing okay there Bielert? How's the leg?"

Oscar lifted his head up from the pillow and groaned out one word that perfectly described it, "Numb."

Jack let out a light laugh before getting down to business and asked Oscar "I never asked you though. Why did you join the Militia anyway? What reason did you have?"

Oscar let out a light sigh before explaining "Mostly it's for my brother. He and I come from this small farming town in the south. He has this incurable disease that affects his lungs and nervous system so he tends to be sick very often. He and I had to flee home when the Nazis got too close. I had him stay with some relatives of our in the refugee camps while I volunteered with the Militia."

"How'd he get this disease you're talking about?" inquired Karl, curious as to what the answer would be.

"He got it from our dad. He fought in the Great War, got exposed to some kind of poison gas the Germans sent at him. Some chemical from the gas got into his bloodstream. And when my brother was born it passed on to him," further explained Oscar, with some with a combination of hatred and regret on his face.

_Now it all makes sense, _thought Jack. Oscar always seemed like he held some kind of grudge against the Nazis. His little brother having an illness given to him by his father who survived a poison gas attack seems like a powerful reason to hate a people to him. Though now Jack was a little unsure as to how Oscar would react to this news he was about to give him. "You're brother, is it by any chance his name is Emile?" he asked.

Oscar looked at him with a surprised look on his face. _How does he know my brother's name? _he thought. "Yeah that's him. Why?" he blurted out, still quite puzzled.

Once again his answer arrived when Jack gestured towards the entrance of the tent and another Militiaman entered. Who it was shocked him to the core. Standing before him, next to Jack and Rosie, armed with a sniper rifle and wearing a Gallian Militia uniform with Squad 7's emblem emblazoned on it, was none other than his little brother Emile. Trying to find the right words to explain himself, all that stuttered out of Oscar's mouth was "Emile! What are you...How did you...Why did...What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Isn't it obvious," joked Rosie "It appears your little brother here is with the Militia. More specifically, he's one of the Seven's."

This however did little to calm the already crazed soldier as he looked to his little brother and demanded "Emile! Tell me why you're here? I told you to stay at the refugee camp with Mom and Dad."

"How am I suppose to stay at the camp while you and everyone else are risking their lives for us? My whole life, you've had to look out and protect me. I'm sick of always being the one needing protection. I joined the Militia so that I can protect you instead of being a burden. And nothing you say or do is going to convince me to leave otherwise," defended Emile in a passionate voice.

Oscar opened his mouth to object but the words never came out of his mouth when Jack interrupted him and explained "Oscar, I know how you feel. I have older siblings too. They tried to tell me the exact same things you're saying when I first went off to war. You want what's best for your brother. But I'm here to tell you that Emile here is old enough to make up his own mind. Besides, Welkin already signed off on him joining us. He's part of Squad 7 now and will be fighting with us whether you like it or not."

Oscar's mouth closed as he allowed Jack's words to sink in. After he had finished processing the information, he slumped back onto his cot, defeated. Emile took this chance and walked over towards his brother, kneeling alongside Fina as he went on to talk to Oscar. Jack, Rosie, and Karl saw this as their cue to exit and left the tent without a word. As they began walking along the camp, Karl looked over to Jack and asked curiously "You have older siblings?"

"Yeah, I do. I've got a twin sister, an older sister, and two older brothers. I'm the youngest out of all the kids of my family," admitted Jack.

"What do they do for a living?" asked Rosie.

"Well my older siblings are in the service. The oldest is serving as a Marine on a naval ship in Puerto Rico, my other brother is a pilot in the Army Air Force, and my older sister is in some kind of Special Forces branch. As for my twin sister, she works as a clerk with the OSS" Jack explained.

Hearing the last few words caught Rosie by surprise. She's was actually a little bit confused by what Jack meant. _OSS? What does that mean,_ she thought. In an attempt to get an answer from Jack, she asked him "What does 'OSS' stand for exactly?"

With a slight chuckle, Jack explained "OSS stands for 'Office of Strategic Services'. It's basically the U.S. military and governments espionage branch. It's filled with spies, secrets and God knows what else. But what about you Rosie? You got any family?"

Rosie's expression soon turned dark. No one had asked her that question in a long time. And whenever someone did, all that it did was bring back a bunch of bad memories that she had long tried to bury. Jack looked at Rosie and noticed how she was reacting to his question. He could see in her eyes the pain and fear that she was trying so hard to hide but failing miserably. From this Jack could only figure that her family was dead, most likely killed during the Great War when Germanian troops invaded Gallia. And from what he could see, he could guess that she saw it happened. Wanting to move past this awkward stage of the conversation, Jack looked over to Karl and asked him the same exact question. "Okay, forget I asked. What about you Karl? Got any family?" he asked.

Karl looked over to him and answered truthfully "I've got a dad back at Fouzen. He's the foreman for one of the Ragnite mining companies there. When the Nazis took control, he stayed behind to try and protect the workers back home. Other than that, I've got a fiancee too."

"Ho, ho. You got yourself a girl. Well color me impressed. So what's the future Mrs. Landzaat like?" asked Rosie, who was now out of her darkened state.

"She's smart, about the kindest person that you'll meet, funny, and very beautiful. We got separated from each other when Fouzen fell, so I joined the Militia to try and find her," he explained, smiling as he thought of his fiancee. Rosie and Jack noticed it, but kept it to themselves. It was nice to see love in the midst of war. Even when there are people being killed and cities are being blown to smithereens, knowing that there is still love out there helps bring some hope and joy to the most downtrodden of refugees that the war has created. And from what they could see, it appeared that Karl missed her greatly.

In an attempt to cheer him up about the matter, Jack offered up "Can you tell me what she looks like? I know a few people who have resources overseas. Maybe they can help you find her quicker."

Karl thought about it. It was true that he wanted to try and find his fiancee, hopefully alive. With the current state of the war, he would need all the help that he could find. But in the end, he decided against it, not wanting to waste the time of Jack's contacts. "Thanks for the offer sir, but I'd like to decline. I think I'll just try to find her...," started Karl. He was going to finish, but he caught sight of someone that caused him to stop mid sentence. There in front of him, he saw a young Darcsen woman in Shocktrooper gear. She was in a conversation with another Militia soldier, though Karl couldn't hear exactly what they were talking about. He knew this girl: it was his fiancee, Lynn.

"Lynn," he blurted out, still in complete and utter shock as to what he was seeing. He had managed to say it loud enough apparently, because at the sound of her name being called Lynn looked over to Karl's direction and had the same look upon her face when she saw him. After a few tense moments where nobody said anything, Lynn broke down and ran as fast as she could to Karl. When she reached him, she wrapped her arms around his neck, almost looking like she was holding on for dear life with Karl doing the same, wrapping his arms around her waist. She buried her head into his shoulder, crying her eyes out. It had been almost a month since she last saw Karl. She had almost given up on ever seeing him again. But now, none of that mattered since she was just glad that she had found him after all this time.

Karl felt the exact same way, though he was a little scared too. When he first joined the Militia to look for Lynn, the last place he ever expected to find him was on the front lines. He had hoped to find her at one of the refugee camps where she would be safe. He was now worried that she may get hurt or possibly killed by the Germans later on in some battle. He hadn't come all this way to just lose her again. But now, all he could think about was how great it was now that she was back in his arms again.

The same could not be said for Jack and Rosie however. Each of them were completely surprised and dumbfounded by what had just happened. For Rosie, she couldn't believe that Karl's fiancee was Darcsen, and that said Darcsen was actually one of their new recruits. She was getting sick to her stomach just thinking about it. "I think I'm going to be sick," she uttered.

Jack too was surprised that Lynn was Karl's fiancee, but for other reasons. In the United States, a Darcsen marrying a non-Darcsen wasn't that much of an issue. Generally it was widely accepted and widespread. Hell, he knew one or two people who were married to a Darcsen back in the United States. However in Europe, that was a completely different story. Due to the racism and persecution of the Darcsen people on the continent, marriages between two people like Karl and Lynn were not only rare, but they were also taboo. Those that did engage in these unions were often shunned from society by most, or worse. By aside from that, he was happy for the two of them. However the romantic feelings emanating from them was too making his stomach churn. "For a different reason, apparently I too have the sudden urge to vomit," added Jack.

* * *

On another end of the camp, Largo and Coby were in the mess tent having breakfast, or the military equivalent of breakfast for that matter. They sat side by side near the end of a long wooden table that was part of several being used in the tent. There they were discussing each other about their previous experiences during the Great War, what they did before the current war, the potential new recruits being placed within the squad, and other random things. Currently they were conversing with each other about the Siege of Bastogne, one of the bloodiest battles Gallia fought during the Great War. It turned out that the two of them had actually fought in that battle, just in different units.

If I remember correctly, which is possible at my age. Wasn't the 55th Infantry Company the unit that got hit the hardest during the initial stages of the fighting," wondered Coby, trying to see if he remembered the facts about it correctly.

"Yeah. Only about a dozen guys were left, all of them Privates. Not one officer among them," clarified Largo, finishing a bite of bacon.

"No officers huh? What happened to those guys later on?" asked Coby curiously.

"They got folded into some other regiment I think. I don't really know," admitted Largo. He was going to continue with the conversation when he looked to the entrance to see two individuals entering the tent. Coby saw where he was looking and noticed them as well. The two men watched as these two individuals come over to their table, most likely intending to sit down with them. Once these two had walked all the way over, Largo was the first to speak up and asked them "You guys the new recruits for Squad 7?"

"We are. My name's Adam Hendricks though most simply call me Father Hendricks. My companion here is Musaad Mayfield, a Scout," explained Father Hendricks, introducing the both of them. Following suit, Largo introduced himself as well as Coby to them. Father Hendricks and Musaad then took up seats on the opposite side of the table directly in front of Largo and Coby.

"What exactly can you tel me about our Lieutenant? He looks kind of green," questioned Musaad. He didn't know much about Gunther save for him being the son of General Belgen Gunther. So he was a little bit curious about any information about the young man that he could come upon.

"Largo said the exact thing once. But the kid came up with a plan that won us both sides of Vasel. And to top that all of, we didn't lose anybody either time. That's a rarity all by itself," Coby summed up "The kid may be young, but he's smart enough to know how to beat the krauts at their own game."

"Heh. Well that's good to know. Puts my worries as an old veteran to ease," commented Musaad.

"You're a Great War vet too huh? Where did you serve?" asked Largo.

Musaad answered as honestly as he could "Served at the plains of Naggiar. Toughest fighting of the war there." Musaad wasn't kidding when he said that. The Naggiar Plains were located in Northeastern Gallia. They were once a large patch of grassy plains with rolling hills and thriving cities. But then the Great War hit. The Germans overran the border fortress Ghirlandaio along with the town Ghirlandaio itself in the opening stages. The Gallian Army and Militia moved to intercept them, engaging them at Naggiar. When the fighting turned into a stalemate, both sides dug trenches just like everywhere else on the Western and Eastern Fronts of the war. The ferocity of the fighting that took place on Naggiar was some of the fiercest that ever took place during the whole war. On that area of the front, soldiers from both sides were killed every day. By the time the war was over, the landscape was forever changed. The once grassy plains had been turned into nothing but dirt from the constant artillery barrages with only a few patches of grass, bushes, or even trees remained. The cities that once stood there became nothing more than a pile of rubble and ruins. The people who once lived there, never came back, leaving the ruins to become nothing more than ghost towns. And to this day, the remains of these towns, along with the trenches, craters, and other relics of the war still buried there, serve as a reminder to what Gallia had lost in those four years of war.

"A lot of good souls were lost in that war. I can only pray that they are in a better place now," muttered Father Hendricks.

"I know how you feel Father. I lost someone close to me in that war," admitted Coby, with sorrow evident in his voice.

Father Hendricks placed a hand on Coby's shoulder and spoke calmly "If you ever need someone to discuss about this. My door is always open." Coby simply replied to his compassion with a 'Thank you'. He had to admit, he did have some demons in his past that haunted him. Demons that he had kept bottled up inside of him ever since the Great War had ended. Maybe it was time to finally let it all out. And who better to tell it to than a chaplain.

"Hey Father. Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself? Since you're going to be a part of the squad the least we could do is get to know you better," suggested Largo, trying to change the subject.

Father Hendricks cleared his throat before relaying his tale. "I was born in Randgriz to a Christian family. When I came of age I became a choir boy at the Randgriz Cathedral. As I got older I became a full chaplain and was given the title Father," he said. The other three knew about the cathedral. It was one of the largest on the Western half of the continent. Thousands of people could fit inside it's halls for a Sunday service. The cathedral was also a common tourist destination for those visiting the city. However due to to the war, they were pretty sure that tours of the place were temporarily closed off.

"Well either way, it's nice to have the two of you in the squad," said Coby.

* * *

"I still don't know why the Germans would invade us anyway. We're not a threat to them," cried Alicia. She had been discussing the topic with several other members of the squad. Those members being fellow Scouts Susie and Freesia, along with Homer, Cezary, Montley, Salinas, and Edy. They were also joined by Mary Read, who had just finished her rounds and came to check up on those of Squads 1 and 7. When she had heard about their discussion, she joined in, intrigued by the topic. In fact it was one that many Gallians were asking themselves. What cause was there for the Germans to invade them? They had all heard Kaiser Byzantium's speech before the invasion started. In it he had stated their reasons, but most of Gallia couldn't figure out if there was some hidden agenda to this as well. It wasn't them being a threat to them, that was certain. Gallia was too small to pose any kind of threat to anyone. There were four things in this world that could possibly threaten Germania. Three of those were the current alliances around the continent: the Atlantic Federation, the Balkan Confederacy, and the Soviet Union. The last was about the only thing that frightened the Nazis, and was the only thing that could challenge Germania and utterly defeat them: the United States. So it stemmed to reason that this invasion was for nothing. Just a textbook case of the Nazis flexing their muscles.

"Oh, come on. Didn't you hear their Kaiser give that speech?" complained Cezary, clearly knowing something she didn't. "The guy kept ranting about how 'his traitorous cousin, the Princess of Gallia, and her family broke off and betrayed him' blah, blah, blah. This is all just some stupid family dispute. And I don't see why I should be involved in it," finished Cezary.

"Is all that really true? Is Princess Cordelia and the Nazi Royal Family really related?" asked Susie, slightly confused.

"Yeah. When Germania first occupied Gallia in the early 1600's, they had a political marriage between the ruling Archduke, and a Nazi Princess. This makes Cordelia a cousin, if not a distant one, to the Nazi Royals. When the U.S., Britain, and Russia helped Gallia break free from the Reich two hundred years later, the Germans saw this as an act of betrayal from one of their own. Ever since then, they've longed for the chance to take us back. As long as House Randgriz rules Gallia, Germania will always claim that this country belongs to them," explained Read.

"In other words, the krauts are gonna keep invading us until either they or we give up," said Edy, not looking at the group. She was too occupied trying to open a watermelon that she had found among the German food stores the other night. Unfortunately, she was having very little luck in doing so. She had forgotten where she last put her bayonet so she was now forced to try and open it by using her bare hands. For over ten minutes she had been punching the watermelon in the vain hope that she could manage to break the outer layer and open it up, and failing with each punch. Now her knuckles were getting sore from the constant hitting.

"Um, do you need any help there Miss Edy?" asked Homer, seeing her situation.

Edy just shot back at him with a scornful look on her face before shouting "No! Homer I can get this damn thing open by myself. I just need to punch it a few more times." She then went right back to trying to punch through the watermelon like she had been doing for a long time.

"Anyway. It may not have anything to do with the whole 'blood relation' thing. They probably just want to get at all the Ragnite we've got," suggested Salinas, bringing everybody back on topic. What Salinas was suggesting was probably the most likely answer.

"He's right. Nearly every region is rich in Ragnite. How much do you think all of this stuff could be worth to them?" wondered Freesia.

"A lot if you could imagine it," said a male voice. The group turned to the direction of that voice to see Audrey and Knute walking towards them.

"Because of the extent of their little Reich, the Nazis have already gained vast reserves of Ragnite. But the amount we have in our soil, is worth billions if not more on the market. However they're more likely just to use it to fuel their war machine. Total waste if you ask me," explained Knute further.

"I'm sorry, but who are you exactly?" asked Alicia, unsure as to who these people were, what they were doing here, and why they were getting involved in this conversation.

Realizing he was being slightly rude, Knute changed his tone and introduced himself and Audrey. "Ah, forgive my manners. My name is Knute Jung, Squad 7's new Engineer. This is Audrey Heitinga, your new Lancer. We're the recent transfers into your squad," he explained modestly.

"Oh, well nice to meet you. I'm Freesia. This is Salinas, Montley, Cezary, Homer, Edy, Susie, and this is Alicia, Squad 7's second-in-command," said Freesia, introducing herself along with everyone else around her. Audrey and Knute's eyes widened a little bit when they heard Freesia mention that Alicia was Welkin's executive officer. With a bit of embarrassment, they quickly gave her a hastily executed salute.

"Um, s-sorry ma'am. W-we didn't recognize you," stuttered Audrey, unable to form a single sentence without stumbling with her words. Alicia let out a giggle which only confused the two of them more. Here they were, embarrassed at how they just talked to her, and she was just giggling.

"It's alright. I'm off duty anyway. You don't have to salute me here," said Alicia in a calm tone. This seemed to calm them down a bit. They both let go of their salute and breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment they though that they would be in trouble, but Alicia wasn't what they had expected. She seemed like a very sweet person who was easy to talk too. That alone helped them to set aside their fears.

"Hey, can you go back to when you said all the Ragnite in Gallia would be worth billions to the right person? I want to hear more about that," inclined Montley, almost jittery with anticipation.

Knute noticed this and inquired to the young man "I get the feeling that you like money? Don't ya?"

"You bet! I'm the kind of guy who believes in the phrase 'time is money'. If my time is being wasted, then so is my money," exclaimed Montley enthusiastically.

"You're also the guy who won't stay in one place for more than five seconds. During the counterattack I literally had to fire my gun with one hand while holding onto you with the other so that you didn't run and get your ass shot off," kidded Salinas. The whole group, except Montley, burst into laughter at the joke.

Once they had all finished laughing, Knute looked back at Montley and complimented him with "Looks like money is the one thing you and I have in common kiddo. You and I should get along swimmingly."

"Why is money so important to you?" asked Homer, admitting his curiosity as to Knute's statement.

"Money is everything in this world. It can buy power, influence, women, anything. Hell, I've survived this long by getting money through my wits and luck alone. I became an Engineer because second to the Quartermaster, they get control over the supplies. Plus, your Lieutenant seemed like a gold mine. I figure my fortunes will improve if I can get close beside him," explained Knute, gladly explaining all of his reasons towards them. For Alicia, she just couldn't believe what this guy was saying. _He joined the Militia just so he could get rich? What's with this guy? Is he so clueless and blinded by money that he doesn't know that he'll have to take part in the fighting, _she thought to herself. Then again, if he gets shot than she won't have to listen to his babbling.

"He can keep his money. I didn't sign up for that," mentioned Audrey. _Well that's a relief. At least she has some sense in her, _Alicia thought, a small grin appearing on her face. "I joined up to get close to our hunk of a Lieutenant," she proudly stated.

And just like that the smile on Alicia's face instantly disappeared. It appeared to her that this woman was just as crazy as Knute. "Let me get this straight: The reason you volunteered, was to close to Welkin?" she scoffed.

"Oooh, you know his name? You're probably really special to him aren't ya?" joked Audrey. Alicia's face was soon flushed red from the embarrassment she was now feeling._ Me, attracted to Welkin? No way!_

"T-that's not w-what it is! There is n-nothing going on b-between us!" Alicia shouted frantically, trying to divert others suspicions. It's not that she didn't see that Welkin had some qualities that made women like him, it was just that she didn't seem attracted to him. In fact there were times when she found him completely frustrating to deal with. He's absentminded, never listens to reason, and likes to do things his way. These were the things that completely infuriated her about him sometimes.

"Oh come on Alicia. You have to admit that Welkin's kind of cute. I mean a lot of women in the squad think the same way. Hell, even Mary here has fallen for his charms," admitted Freesia. Alicia now looked over to Mary who's face was now the same shade as her. She was becoming so embarrassed that she tried to hide her face under her officer's hat. To Alicia, this was something new to her, a side of Read she had never seen before. She always appeared to her to be a calm and ready commander, not some schoolgirl like she does now. Alicia could only remind herself on how much her personality had changed. When they first met Read, she couldn't stand the sight of the Militia. And in a few days, Welkin had managed to change her views on them along with getting her to apparently develop some kind of crush on him. After a few more moments, Read lifted her cap up with an almost surprised look on her face. She then looked back at Freesia and asked her "Where did you hear about that?"

"From Corporal Lawrence. He says he saw you and Lieutenant Gunther talking after the German counterattack. He told everybody who would listen," answered Freesia honestly, quite unsure as to where Mary was taking this. Her answer was given when Mary's expression turned from confusion to fury as she suddenly stormed off, mumbling "I am going to kill that Yankee!" Now most of the people in the group were worried for Jack if Mary ever managed to find him. Cezary however was just glad that annoying part of the conversation was finally over.

The attention soon turned to Edy who threw her hands up into the air and screamed out "That's it! I give up! This stupid thing won't open!" After so many punches, she had finally decide to give up on opening the watermelon. That is util someone stabbed it in the top with their bayonet. Edy jumped back, startled a little bit before looking at the handle to see someone's hand gripped around it. She followed the length of the arm to see Welkin was the one.

"This should help you out a bit," stated Welkin, letting go of the bayonet. Edy stood frozen a bit before slowly grabbing the bayonet and beginning to slice open the watermelon.

Welkin then turned to Alicia and ordered "Alicia, gather the rest of the squad together. I've got our orders from Captain Varrot. We're to get ready to leave by 1000 hours."

"Alright Welkin, consider it done," responded Alicia.

Before she could move however, everyone heard the sound of Jack's voice coming from a distance not too far away. Welkin looked in that direction to see Jack nervously stepping backwards, arms up in a defensive posture, away from an angry Lieutenant Mary Read that was slowly advancing towards him with a very disgruntled look on her face.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, Read calm down! There's nothing to get violent about here! We're all friends right!?" he pleaded, trying to prevent her from harming him. Mary then knelled to the ground and picked up a large rock. Both out of confusion and worry, Jack asked her "Um, Read w-what are you doing with that?"

"I think a nice blow to your head with this rock might fix your eyesight!" shouted Read in anger, raising the rock high above her head as if to strike down Jack with it. Before she could do anything however, Jack immediately bolted away from her as fast as he could, shouting at the top of his lungs "Someone help me! There's a crazy woman trying to kill me!"

Not a second later after he started running, Mary followed him in pursuit, hellbent on getting revenge on him. "Get back here you big mouthed Yankee bastard!" she shouted at him. Welkin could only sigh at what was happening. _Why does Jack have to push everyone's buttons? _he thought as he calmly ran after them, hoping that he could catch up with them before Read could kill Jack.

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	21. VIP Extraction

**Update: New character will appear in this chapter. **

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_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes only.)_

_Main Road to Randgriz _

_1100 hours (11:00 am)_

_"After our victory at Vasel. We received orders to return to the capital. Orders coming directly from Gallian High Command. Apparently the Generals were highly impressed on how we had managed to take back Vasel. Varrot had apparently told Welkin that they had wanted to meet us in person. Based on what I knew about Gallian Generals at this point, they were either going to give us a medal or send us away from the front lines to keep us from getting in their way. As much as any of us were hoping for a medal, we knew that the second option was the more likely thing to happen to us. We had to travel down the main road since it was the quickest way to Randgriz. We thought that it was going to be a quiet trip, with no Germans trying to kill us whatsoever. Wow, I was a complete moron to have thought that." - Jack Lawrence_

The sun shined bright as ever on that warm day in April. On the eastern bank of Randgriz River, there laid the main road that connected the city of Vasel to the city of Randgriz, which was on the other side of the river. Normally the road would be packed with cars, trucks and other vehicles transporting people to and from these two major cities. Ever since the bridge was first laid down it became the main route for both trade and travel. However since the war had gotten so close to the capital, the road was closed for any civilians to travel on, leaving it for the military to use the road for the countries defense. There were also a few towns located along the road, all abandoned in the face of the German advance. By now the Germans had reached within ten miles from the river itself. And they would have overrun the whole area had there been not two obstacles in their way.

On one side of the river was the river, while on the other side there was a large and wide forest about a hundred yards away from the road itself. It ran alongside the road from Vasel to Randgriz and for a few miles further. The trees and bushes at the outer edge of the forest were too thick for tanks or any large vehicle to pass through. However that was only on the outer edge. For the majority of the forest was the exact opposite, it was open enough for tanks to pass through. and the thick canopy of leaves could shield anyone inside the forest from any eyes in the sky. The only real route through the forest was the great fortress of Aslone, which sat right on outer edge of the forest.

The fortress was built during the German occupation of Gallia long ago. When Gallia gained it's independence again it continually refitted and rearmed the fortress with modern weaponry and reinforced it to withstand even modern artillery. During the Great War the Germans tried time after time to capture the fortress, but they never managed to do so. It soon earned the title 'Defender of Randgriz' for that reason. But the reason that made it such a strategic position was it's location within the forest. It sat directly where the thick brush was. It created a path towards the more movable area of the forest where armor could move through unhindered.

But due to the fortress itself, and the large forest as well, they serve as a barrier that has prevented the Germans from taking Randgriz. That was why they decided to take Vasel instead, and failed why the Militia drove them out. But for all the strengths this fortress had, there was also a terrible decision made for it by Gallian High Command. With Gallia's forces already stretched thin trying to hold the Germans from advancing from the north and from the Ardennes, Damon decided to pull back most of the troops on the center front to reinforce those positions. Damon held his faith in the thick forest barrier and Aslone to keep the center safe, leaving only Aslone's garrison as well as a few squads of Regulars spread out throughout the large forest to guard against any infantry incursions. Short version, this area of the front was only lightly guarded against the Nazi war machine.

Squad 7, fresh from their successful mission at Vasel, traveled along that same main road back towards the capital. The _Edelweiss_ led the way followed by several trucks that lacked the canvas covering. Since the road was completely devoid of any other motor vehicles, they could move towards the capital at full speed. Varrot only sent Squad 7 along the road because sending in anymore soldiers like Squad 1 or Lieutenant Read's troops would have been too dangerous. Ten miles behind the front lines, the road was still within range of German artillery fire. They would imply send in a two troops to slip past the patrols and radio in the coordinates to their artillery teams in the rear to rain down explosive Ragnite shells upon the Gallians, utterly decimating them. So by sending out only a single squad upon the main road, it lowered the risks of that happening.

And as the _Edelweiss_ moved forward down the road, Welkin, who was standing through the turret hatch, could only admire at the beautiful scenery around him. He had to admit that the area around him was quite peaceful. A clear and blue river to his right, green grass and a luscious forest to his left, it truly was a sight to behold. And the fact that there was no sign of craters, tank wreck, or dead bodies helped maintain the area's serenity. "You know, you have to admit this: It really is quite beautiful here,' stated Welkin out loud.

Alicia, who was riding on the tank along with Jack, Rosie, and Largo, noticed Welkin's comment and saw the same thing that he did. "You're not kidding. Just being here, you'd never know that there's a war going on," she added.

Jack, who had appeared to be sleeping, using his US helmet to cover his eyes, showed that he truly wasn't by countering "I wouldn't get your hopes up about that just yet."

"And why is that?" asked Largo, curious as to what he was talking about. Without even moving his head, Jack took his index finger and pointed upwards towards the sky. They all followed to see what he was referring to. Up above, they could see over a dozen bombers flying up high in the air. They were too far up to see them but they could tell their position from the streaks they were giving off as they flew. And by the direction they were heading, which was East, they were most likely German bombers. They had pretty much became a common sight in the skies of Gallia since the start of the war over a month ago. The Nazis would send out a formation of them periodically to bomb Randgriz or some other major city or position. The Gallian Royal Air Corps, otherwise known the GRAC, as well as Gallia's anti-aircraft batteries, tried as hard as they could to stop them in their already weakened numbers, managing to take some down. But in the end it was not enough to stop the Germans from knocking out more towns and villages. So in the current state of the war, the German _Luftwaffe_ ruled the skies over Gallia.

Just as it seemed like the Nazi bombers were going to continue flying towards their target completely unhindered, the squad spotted four more streaks in the sky approaching the bomber formation from the opposite direction at high speed in pairs of two. They definitely weren't the bombers fighter escort, that was certain. If they were then they should be flying alongside the bombers, not directly into them. That only left out one possible option. These streaks were coming from GRAC fighter planes.

"Yeah. Give em' hell boys!" Rosie cheered for the pilots, giving off a quick salute as she watched them begin engaging the enemy bomber formation. She had to admit, at least they still had some air power left. Otherwise they would have all likely been blown to pieces. And she was even more glad by the fact that they were heading back towards Randgriz. Their last mission was a tough one, and she was looking forward to a little R&amp;R before they decide to send them on another dangerous mission.

Suddenly Welkin's radio headset cracked to life as a male voice came through the headphones directed towards them. _"Lieutenant Gunther this is GRAC Command. Do you copy? Over?"_ a man asked him.

Welkin fixed the microphone attached to the headset and responded back "This is Lieutenant Gunther responding. Go ahead GRAC Command. Over" The others turned his head towards him, curious as to what they were telling him since only Welkin could hear the orders from his radio headset. It was a little curious as to why the GRAC was contacting Welkin. Squad 7 wasn't part of Gallia's Air Forces. But then again, the Militia is supposed to answer to each branch of the Gallian Armed Forces, no matter what. So all they could do now was listen to what they were being told.

_"One of our transport planes was shot down and crash landed behind enemy lines. The pilots and passengers managed to slip past the German lines and took shelter in the town of Mullow, a town situated on the main road midway between Vasel and the bridge to Randgriz. They're holed up inside the town and the Germans may attempt to sneak past the front lines in order to capture them. We need you to rendezvous with the survivors, extract them from Mullow, and return back to Fort Amaranthine at all haste. Over,"_ ordered the man, explaining the situation.

"Um, are you sure that we should do this? We have orders from High Command to return to base ASAP. Isn't there anyone else you can send in to help? Over," asked Welkin, unsure about the orders that he was given. It's not that Welkin minded being giving these kinds of orders, it's just the timing that was the problem. General Damon and High Command had been given very specific orders to return to base. And he doubted that Damon would be okay with them taking a quick stop along the way.

_"Negative Lieutenant Gunther. There are no other available units in the immediate area to send. They're too occupied trying to keep German troops from breaching the forest or defending Aslone. And sending in another unit would take too long. Yours is the closest that we have. It is of the utmost importance that you get those passengers out Lieutenant. Over,"_ clarified the man.

"Did you say 'utmost importance' sir? Does that mean that one of the passengers is highly valuable? Over," asked Welkin, taking notice as to how he phrased the sentence.

_"Confirmed Lieutenant. One of the passengers is a VIP with the remaining members being her armed escorts. She as en route to Fort Amaranthine from Germania when her plane was intercepted and shot down. She is being hunted by the Byzantium's men, the SS. We cannot allow her to be captured by the SS at any cost. That is why that we need you to extract her from Mullow immediately Lieutenant. Over,"_ explained the man.

So that explains it, thought Welkin. There was a VIP aboard that plane. That's why the GRAC is so adamant about Squad 7 rescuing them. If the Germans shot the plane down, then whomever inside the aircraft must be someone that the Germans want captured, or dead. But wait, the man said that the plane was flying in from Germania. Who in their right mind would come from Germania? Who could be so important that the Gallian Royal Air Force and by extension, Gallian High Command, could find so valuable that they would send in one of their transport planes to get them out of the country? Guess they would find out when they reached Mullow.

"Alright Command, we'll head straight there right away and extract them. But that still leaves explaining this to Damon and the rest of High Command. Over," stated Welkin, speaking once more into the radio headset.

_"Roger that Lieutenant. Our last communication with the survivors said that they had taken shelter in the Mullow town hall. Once you have a visual on the VIP, she'll give you the code word 'Thunder', your response is 'Flash'. You use this to make sure that you have her. Once she's secured, report back to us before returning to base. And don't worry about Damon, we'll take care of him. Contact us if you run into any problems. GRAC Command over and out,"_ finalized the man before signing off.

Once he was finished with the conversation Welkin took off his headset and readjusted his tank commander's cap. Welkin knelled down into the turret and looked to Isara. He calmly asked her "Is, how far is the town of Mullow?"

"Not very far. We should be there in about seven minutes. Why do you ask?" answered Isara, though unsure as to why this was significant.

"Cause we got new orders. We have some people to pick up in the town," explained Welkin, before popping back out through the turret hatch. When he came out, he looked to see four faces staring at him. In all that happened , Welkin had completely forgotten that they were even on the _Edelweiss_ at all. And it was apparent that they wanted an answer as to what was going on. Rubbing the back of his head, he blurted out "Um, how much of that conversation could you make out?"

"How about you just skip to just explaining to us what's going on?" asked Alicia, wanted to get to the point of what was going on.

Welkin relaxed a bit before saying "I'll explain to you and the rest of Squad 7 once we reached Mullow." This only caused the four others to simply scrunch their faces in confusion before blurting out in bewilderment "Mullow?"

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Mullow was a small town situated on the main road between Vasel and Randgriz. It had often served as a pit stop for those traveling along that road. Other than that the town itself wasn't all that noticeable. The town had a population of about a few hundred. It had a town hall, a church, a few stores, and various other buildings. The whole town had been evacuated long ago with it's residents making for the capital, causing Mullow to quickly become something akin to a ghost town. Many cars and trucks littered the streets, parked on the sides of roads, in garages, or simply in the streets. The town had also taken some damage from a small German artillery salvo. Most of the shots hit the streets with several shots scoring direct hits on the buildings, turning most of them into rubble.

Squad 7 parked their vehicles just outside the city of Mullow, hiding them among the bushes and trees to keep them safe from German air patrols. Once they were well hidden, the squad gathered near the entrance to the city. There Welkin explained to the squad members in detail about the radio conversation that he had with GRAC Command, about the VIP passenger inside the plane, how they were being chased by the _SS_ and managed to take cover within the town, and how it was Squad 7's job to get them out of the town before the _SS_ could get to them first.

"So let me see if I've got this straight. The GRAC was transporting a VIP out of Germania, that plane got shot down. The VIP and her escort survived and managed to get to Mullow with the _SS_ on their tails. Now they want us to get them out of here and back to the fort before the krauts catch up with them?" asked Jack, summing up everything that Welkin had explained to them.

"Yes, that's about it believe it or not," confirmed Welkin.

"Who's so important that the fly boys had to smuggle out of Nazi town?" asked Ted in his usual comedic word choice.

"I bet you twenty Ducats that it's either a spy, or a defector," said a confident Knute to Largo.

When Knute mentioned about the twenty Ducats, it caused Jack to remember something from Vasel. He remembered that he had made a similar bet with Alicia before they stormed the western portion of Vasel. And he had distinctly remembered how she had failed to pay him when he had won the bet. Wanting to get it out of the way, he turned his head to Alicia who was standing next to him and reminded her "That reminds me: Where the hell are my twenty Ducats that you owe me from Vasel?"

Alicia simply gave him a look on her face that said 'Now is not the best time', so Jack simply took that advice to heart and looked back to Welkin. Welkin had seemed to ignore their talk and simply stated to them "Anyway the VIP and her escorts are hiding inside the town hall. So Squad 7, let's move out!"

Welkin pulled out his pistol and waved for the others to follow him. The rest of the squad followed close behind weapons drawn, scanning their surroundings as they moved forward. The squad had left their anti-tank lances with the vehicles since there was no real reason to bring them along. So the Lancers all brought along a rifle with them instead for this mission. Mullow had given the whole squad an eerie feeling. Even though there were supposedly no enemies within the city, they couldn't help but shake the feeling that someone was watching them as they made their way through the abandoned streets of Mullow. They scanned the buildings as they moved, checking each window, door, and corner in case that they were walking into an ambush. Thankfully, the fight at Vasel had helped given the squad some experience for dealing with the Germans in urban combat.

And after a few minutes of walking, they finally approached Mullow's town hall. The town hall was in the center of a massive circle shaped courtyard. It was a rectangular shaped building about two stories high. The red bricks that made up the building helped show off it's age along with the large wooden sign that said 'Town Hall' hanging over the front door. The building was lined with windows, some boarded up, but most weren't. The shades were all closed, blocking any view of the inside. The courtyard appeared to be used as a roundabout because the middle ring of the courtyard was littered with abandoned vehicles, creating something akin to a defensive line around the town hall. The squad moved forward past the ring of cars, stopping right in front of the main entrance. The town hall itself seemed as abandoned as the rest of the town though, with no sign of the VIP or her armed escorts anywhere.

"Are you sure that the VIP is here boss? I don't see anyone here at all," questioned Largo, confused as to why there was nobody else in sight.

"He's right. This place looks deserted," added Alicia.

"Just like the rest of this town," followed Rosie.

Welkin rubbed his chin as he thought of what to do next. Upon reaching a solution, he looked to Jack and suggested to him "Why don't you go inside and see if there's anyone inside?"

Jack rubbed his eyes a bit before responding "Alright, I'll see if anyone's home." He then placed his motorcycle goggles over his eyes, moved the U.S. flag around his neck to cover his mouth and nose, and readying his BAR before walking up towards the door. As he approached the door, he used the muzzle of his gun to slowly open the door. Once finished, he quickly scanned the room from the doorway to check for anyone inside. Once the door was open, he looked and saw nothing but a dark and empty room, the only light coming from the open door. Turning up nothing, he lowered his BAR and lifted his helmet up a little bit. He then turned towards Welkin and the others and took a few steps outside.

"Am I the only one here who thinks that we got sent on some wild goose chase here? Because from where I'm standing, there's nobody inside," stated Jack in disappointment. A few moments after he had said it, karma came and struck back at him. Suddenly out of the darkness of the empty room behind him reached out, wrapping it's left arm around Jack's neck in a choke hold while holding a Nagant 1895 revolver, cocked, and aimed directly at Welkin and the others. Then, the muzzles of six various weapons appeared in the windows on the second floor pointing down upon them as well. Squad 7 instinctively drew their weapons as well but didn't fire, being cautious as to what was happening.

"Nobody fire. Let's not turn this into a shootout," ordered Welkin calmly. Even though they had numbers on their side, he didn't want anyone in his squad to be killed in a firefight that could be avoided. Especially Jack, who was now being used by the mysterious figure in the doorway as a human shield. He couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman cause their face was being covered by the shadows inside the room. In his head, Welkin was running through different ideas as to how he should handle this. He could try and take a shot at the figure, but there was a large chance that he would miss and kill Jack in the process. He could have his Squad try to force their way in but they too would be put into needless danger. So the only thing that he could possibly do is try to talk this person onto releasing Jack. For all he knew, the person holding Jack could be the VIP that they had been sent to extract.

Cautiously and slowly, he holstered his pistol and walked towards the doorway, arms up. "I'm not going to shoot you. My name is Lieutenant Welkin Gunther. I'm the commander of Squad 7. We were sent here to help you on orders from the Gallian Royal Air Corps. Are you the VIP they mentioned?," he asked, trying best to not provoke the person. The hold on Jack's neck seemed to loosen up a little bit. Meaning that the person was starting to trust her.

Then out of the blue, the figure muttered out a single word "Thunder". From the the voice, it was clear that the figure holding Jack was definitely a woman. And since the GRAC told him that the VIP was a woman, this helped to confirm it. As did the code word she had said, 'Thunder'. The same one that he had been told that she would give him to confirm her identity. In the final act to gain the woman's trust, he gave her the response that she was expecting. "Flash," said Welkin.

After a few tense moments where nothing happened, the woman spoke out once more, this time to her troops. "Lower your weapons men. Our escorts are here," she had ordered. The weapons being pointed at Squad 7 soon retracted, going back inside the building. When that happened, the Gallians did the same, glad that they didn't walk into another shootout. The figure releases her grip on Jack, who lunges forward, placing a hand around his neck as he begins gasping for air from the tight hold around his windpipe.

Welkin gave him a pat on the back before suggesting "Why don't you go back to the squad and find Fina?"

"Yeah...I'll do that," coughed up Jack as he made his way back to the others, only a few yards behind Welkin. Welkin followed him close behind, only turning back to the door once Jack was in the rear of the group with Fina. Out of the door came six armed people, four men and two women. From the color of their hair and eyes, one of the men and one of the women were Darcsens. They were dressed in civilian clothing but with bits of military equipment such as ammunition belts for all of them and steel helmets for only half. Their armaments were as diverse as well. Half of them were armed with Kar98k bolt-action rifles. Two more had Russian PPSH-41 sub-machine guns and stick grenades with the last one armed with a British Bren light machine gun. From one look at these people, Welkin figured that these people seemed more like insurgents or rebels than a security detail, despite the fact that they were all armed.

The two insurgents in the center stepped to the side to show a beautiful woman walking up behind them. The woman was about Jack's age, making her around eighteen years old, and just a little bit shorter than him as well. Her physical appearance includes long blue hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and a slender body figure. For her attire, the most obvious feature about it is the color. With the exception of the cuffs of her gloves and boots, which are white, and the under part of her cloak, which is red, her attire is all blue. Her under clothing, being a long sleeved shirt and skintight pants, were a darker blue with the tunic that she wore over it being a lighter blue. Her tunic has a gold colored trim and was sleeveless, plus it extended down a little below her waist to the top of her legs. Welkin couldn't see at the moment but her bare back was exposed, covered by a long cape held together around her neck by a red shield-shaped clasp with a gold colored bird, most likely a raven on it. The boots she's wearing go up to her knees with her finger less gloves going halfway up her forearms. On her upper arms she wears steel, gold-trimmed shoulder pads and wears a leather strap that runs down from her right shoulder to her left hip with a silver ring embedded in the middle of the strap. The strap connects to a belt around her waist where she has what appears to be a sword with a golden piece between the blade and the red colored hilt with an open space in the middle. The sword itself was tucked into a red and gold covered scabbard. And on her right hip she had a holster strapped to the belt which now holds her revolver. To finish it off, she had what appeared to be a golden tiara in her hair which seemed to double as a headband.

Add all of that together, this woman seemed to belong to some kind of noble bloodline. Something in stark contrast to the company of armed guards that surrounded her. This only made Welkin wonder as to who this woman was, where she came from, and what she was doing here in Gallia. The rest of Squad 7 had similar thoughts as well but only they didn't pay much attention to that right now. They seemed too preoccupied with the strange woman in front of them. Her regal appearance, youthful glow, and beautiful appearance made her seem something akin to an angel. And in the middle of a war zone, that could be a wonderful thing that can bring hope to others.

The young woman became the first one to break the silence. "It's a pleasure to meet you Lieutenant Gunther," she welcomed with a smile, extending out her hand as if for a handshake.

Welkin returned her gesture, shaking her hand. "The pleasure's all mine Miss...," he started before realizing that he didn't know her name.

"Lucina. You may call me Lucina, Lieutenant Gunther," the woman answered, then ending the handshake.

"Only if you call me Welkin. I was never really big on formalities," admitted Welkin truthfully.

Lucina let out a light chuckle at his remark before replying "Either way, I'd like to apologize for earlier. With all that has happen recently I thought for a moment that you were SS troops in disguise."

"Would they actually try to pass themselves off as Gallian troops in order to get to you?" asked Welkin, curious as to whether what she was telling him was true.

"Believe me, this isn't the first time they've tried to kill me. They actually have tried something similar to this several times in the past. None of which were ever successful," explained Lucina, recounting her previous experiences on dealing with the _Waffen SS_.

"Well, I think you also owe an apology to one of my men. The one you had in a choke hold and used as a human shield," reminded Welkin.

Lucina's face blushed with embarrassment as she remembered that event. "Ah, that. I sorta acted on instinct. Sort of a 'think on my feet' kind of moment," she explained.

"You can tell that to him yourself. I'd like to introduce you to Jack," stated Welkin, about to introduce Jack who surprisingly, when he looked to him, he found out that wasn't with Fina, but right behind him. Welkin was left momentarily surprised but then again, this was Jack he was referring to. He apparently hadn't taken off the goggles or makeshift face mask that he had put on earlier. When he turned to look at Lucina, he saw that hr expression had changed dramatically. Her smile had now been replaced by a look of utter surprise. Slowly she pulled down the flag from his face and back around his neck, then moved the goggles back up and strapped them to his helmet. Jack's face showed defeat, yet also some recognition, as if he knew Lucina. The same could be said for Lucina. It appeared that she seemed to know him as well.

Her expression changed once more to a calm and stern one. She then crossed her arms and stated "Jack Lawrence. I always figured that I'd meet you again."

"From our last conversation it didn't sound like you had any intention whatsoever of seeing me at all," recalled Jack.

Confused, Welkin turned to Jack and questioned "Um, Jack do you know her?"

Looking at Welkin for a quick second, Jack admitted "Yeah, I do. It's kind of a long story. One that I will tell you after I-". Jack was about to finish this statement when he looked at Lucina and was surprised when she punched him in the face, hard. Reeling back from the punch, Jack clutched his face, specifically his nose where Lucina's fist made contact with. Blood began to pour through the cracks between his fingers, implying that she punched hard enough to cause his nose to bleed. The rest of the squad cringed a little bit at the sight, seeing that it had clearly hurt. Within moments of being punched Jack began wailing in pain.

"Oh shit! I think you broke my nose!" cried Jack, his voice muffled a little bit due to his hands covering his mouth as well.

"Well you're about to get a second dose of that in a moment," declared Lucina as she balled up her fist and raised it as if about to strike again. But before she could bring it down on him, two of her men grabbed her arms and restrained her.

"Easy there, ma'am. We're not here to cause a fight," reminded one of her men. She managed to break free of their grip and placed her arms back on her sides, the same look that showed he anger towards Jack.

"Alright then. Maybe we should have this conversation inside," suggested Welkin. He had no idea what was going on or what this whole thing between Jack and Lucina was about. But one way or another, he was about to find out.

* * *

**So there you have it: the new character that I've added. From the notes I put in the first chapter I did say that I would take things from other franchises such as themes or characters. For Lucina, she comes from the Nintendo 3DS game Fire Emblem: Awakening. She has the same looks, clothing, and weapon that she has in the game with a few added differences like the addition of a revolver.**

**But her arrival does draw some questions. How does she know Jack? Why does she seem so angry at him? What is her importance to the Gallian war effort? And why does the SS and by extension, Byzantium, want her dead?**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	22. Princess Lucina

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Inside Mullow's Town Hall_

Squad 7 along with Lucina and the insurgents entered the town hall in order to clear up things. Welkin had Lucina and her troops wait in a room upstairs on the second floor while he had his men wait in the main hall which served Mullow's town hall as the grand entrance into the building. Some of the building's lights were fortunately still working and managed to fill the room with enough light for others to see. The floor was made of white marble with a large staircase leading to the second floor. A long red carpet ran from the door and continued up the stairs. Large portraits lined the walls, covering up the people in the portraits. Most likely done by the town's inhabitants before they evacuated and left for the capital or the refugee camps. The windows had been boarded up with wooden two by fours, with rays of sun coming from the spaces between the boards. After they had entered the insurgents barricaded the door with any piece of furniture they could find, wanting to make sure that no one else could get inside.

However, Fina managed to find at least one chair and place Jack on it as she tended to his nose. Welkin, Alicia, and the rest of the squad either stood or sat around him as they waited for Fina to finish treating him before they could ask him some questions. It appeared that Lucina did in fact break Jack's nose when she punched him. Fina had managed to stop the bleeding and was about to fix his nose. She grabbed his nose firmly and with a quick movement yanked it sideways back into place, a loud crack filling the air followed by Jack's muffled screams. She then placed some kind of bandage on the brim of his nose as she finished the treatment.

"Are you okay Jack?" asked Alicia out of concern.

"I'm fine. It's not the first time I've been hit in the face, and it definitely won't be the last," assured Jack. And it was true. Multiple times during the war with the Soviets Jack had gotten into scuffles with their troops. And every so often they would hit him with the butt of their weapons, hard. So it was safe to say that Jack had gotten used to it, as painful as that sounded.

"Ha. Are you saying that this isn't the first time you got punched by a girl?" chucked Rosie, the idea just popping into her head.

"Actually I've been punched, slapped, and kicked by girls before. Sometimes all three at once," admitted Jack, surprising Rosie who soon began laughing uncontrollably. _Great. She is never going to let me forget this, _thought Jack. He already had to listen to her pester him about earlier today when Read tried to bludgeon him with a rock because of what he said about her and Welkin. And that was not a pleasant memory. He could still remember all the twists and turns he did around the camp as he tried to get away from her. Thank God that Welkin managed to see it and stop her. Unlike Faldio who was the ladies man of their little group during their days at the university, Jack was never that god when it came to women. He would often say something that would get them angry and end up with Jack being chased by a very angry girl, or by the girl's angry boyfriend, though mostly it was the latter. Honestly, he would often wonder why he often had people get angry at him. It was like a curse or something. Always sneaking up behind him when he least expected it.

"I have no respect for a man who can't take a punch from a girl," noted Nils, his face showing a look of disappointment. Jack could only role his eyes at Nils comment. He was well aware that Nils was a Misogynist, a man who didn't like women at all, from his personnel report. As the Quartermaster, it was Jack's job to read those files and report them to Welkin. He didn't know why Nils had a hatred for women, and he didn't want to know. That was his business and his alone, it didn't matter to Jack why as long as it didn't affect his performance in the field. But then again, the amount of girls in Squad 7 would be a huge predicament.

And it seemed like some of those women didn't take his comment very well. "And what is that suppose to mean exactly? Are you saying that a girl can't punch as hard as a man can?!" questioned fellow Lancer Rosina.

"I am. So what? You can prove different?" taunted Nils, clearly getting agitated by Rosina.

Rosina pointed a finger at Jack before answering loudly "Take a look at our Quartermaster here! That woman broke his nose! You don't think that was hard enough?!"

"Could you please leave me out of this?" asked Jack.

The duo paid no attention to Jack's comment as they continued on with their argument, for lack of a better term to describe what it actually was. "That doesn't mean anything. One girl being able to break his nose doesn't change the facts," countered Nils.

"I have a fact that's going to change your tune," mumbled Rosina as she balled up her fists, getting ready to punch Nils right in the face. She just couldn't take it anymore. Every time Nils opened his mouth he ended up spewing some outdated nonsense about his views on women. And every line he spoke only made her blood pressure spike and the anger dwelling deep inside swell. Suddenly, she cracked and pulled her fist back, ready to strike at Nils, hard. Just as she lunged her fist forward, a large gloved hand grabbed it, stopping her just before she made contact with Nils face. Slightly surprised, she turned her head to see Largo, with a disappointed look on his face, was the one who had caught her hand.

As she broke free of his grip, angry that Largo got in her way, he ordered "Alright you two. That's enough. Right now we've got bigger things to worry about." Largo then looked to Welkin, now standing next to the seated Jack, and asked "Right boss?"

Welkin nodded his head in confirmation before finally asking Jack what they needed to know "Okay Jack, tell us. Who is that woman?"

"Only met the woman half an hour ago and you've already forgotten her name Welkin? Real smooth," joked Jack, though the hint of nervousness present in his voice. He didn't feel comfortable having to explain what Welkin and the others wanted to know. Jack, for once in a long time, was actually a little embarrassed.

"Jack, you know what I mean here," clarified Welkin, slightly frustrated by Jack's response.

Jack gave out a weary sigh as he knew that now was the time where he had to reveal everything to his new found friends. Tell them things from his past that he had only told to a few select people that he could trust. Now he was afraid about how they would think of him if he told them the truth. He wondered in his head whether or not he should make something up that they would believe instead. But then surprisingly he thought about how during his days at Randgriz Unversity, how he and Welkin were always honest with each other about everything, no matter how bad it was. And they would always laugh about it and still remain friends. If a person like Welkin would do something like that for him, maybe the rest of Squad 7 would do the exact same. Maybe it was in Jack's best interest to admit to them what he had kept secret.

With that in mind he finally opened up and admitted "Lucina is an old friend of mine. The two of us go way back, though now as you can see we're not on friendly terms."

"Okay that answers _one_ of my questions," admitted Welkin.

"Why is she so important that made the GRAC try to bring her into Gallia?" inquired Isara, as curious as ever.

"It's mainly due to the...organization that she's associated with," explained Jack. Everyone's ears perked a bit at the mention of the word 'organization'. Now they were curious as to what exactly was going on.

"Anyone here know about a particular group called the ALF?" wondered Jack, hoping if anyone else knew about it as well.

Nobody answered until Alicia spoke up, saying quite unsure "Sort of. They're some sort of resistance group against the Nazis, right?"

"Yeah, if you're prone to understatement," said Jack, making a joke out of her answer. It seemed to him that Alicia wasn't all that up to date on current events that happened outside of Gallia.

"From what I hear these guys are a bunch of tough fighters. I hear they're one of the few people that the Nazis can't seem to beat," added Vyse.

"These guys can kill Valkyrur if they could. Mainly because they already have," explained Jack. Everyone looked in surprise by his comment, almost confused by what he meant. Jack could only role his eyes in dismay. Apparently he was the only one who ever seemed to pay attention in history class and those of current events.

"Has anyone here even heard of the Archanea?" asked Jack, hoping for a response or answer of some kind.

"Somewhat. I learned about it in high school. They used to be a large and ancient kingdom that existed a long time ago. It was formed after the Darcsen Calamity and ruled over Europa for two thousand years before the Nazis rose up and tore them down," said Welkin, recalling what he could remember from his high school years, though he couldn't remember much at all.

"Exactly. That's also what the 'A' in ALF stand for. It's full name is the Archanean Liberation Front. These are the people who want to get rid of the Nazi Reich and bring back Archanea. And from what I've heard, there's a lot of people that are on board with that idea. Last count the United States Army did a study and estimated that the ALF has over three million members. Honestly they're more like an army than an actual front," confirmed Jack, adding what he also knew about the movement as well. Almost instantly after he said that, he could see that little Aisha's hand shot straight up into the air. She jumped up and down excitedly as if she wanted someone to call on her.

"Um, yes Aisha? Is there something that you want to know?" said Welkin, deciding to figure out what it was that had gotten Aisha so hyped up.

Once she was called upon, Aisha stopped her little act and asked honestly "What does that have to do with the Valkyria Mister Welkin?"

Welkin cracked a slight smile at her comment. He already knew from the personnel reports that Aisha was considered to be some kind of genius prodigy. Listening to her just now, he finally just understood fully what the report meant. This little girl had a very wide and expansive curiosity. She wanted to know as much as she could about the world around her. However at this moment, Welkin didn't have the answer to her question, however he did know the person who did. "I think Jack is in a better position to answer than I am," he explained.

All eyes once again turned to Jack as he continued with his testimony. "Right well according to most of the textbooks in Europe, the Valkyrur defeated the Darcsens during the Calamity. Well the one thing that all textbooks agree on is that the Ancient Archaneans were the ones who defeated the Valkyrur. Actually saying that they wiped them out is probably a more accurate statement," he said. Rosie's mouth almost dropped. _Did I hear that right? Those people beat the supposed God-like saviors of the continent? I doubt that, _she thought. How was something like that even possible? But then she remembered what this whole conversation was about in the first place: that girl Lucina. She remembered how they had mentioned very little about her as soon as the ALF came into the picture.

"None of this still explains why these 'Sieg Heiling' bastards are after her. What is so damn important about her that the Nazi Kaiser had to send in his own fucking private army?" she asked, wanting Jack to finally give them the full explanation.

Jack let out another weary sigh, knowing full well the implications of what he was about to say next. "The reason that Byzantium wants her captured so badly...is because she's the leader of the Archanean Liberation Front," he admitted. Almost everyone in the group gasped in surprise. They just couldn't believe it. That young girl, that young and beautiful girl, was the leader of the largest resistance group inside Germania. Though they could slightly understand why however. The Nazis prided themselves on being able to police their own backyard, and they manage to do it brutally and efficiently. The fact that there was a massive resistance movement was taking roots inside Germania and was openly engaging their forces was not only an embarrassment to their reputation, but was also a large threat to their rule as well. So it was only natural that Lucina would become the Nazis 'Public Enemy No. 01'.

"How is it that she's the ALF leader? She doesn't look any older than you," countered Largo, clearly not believing what he was being told.

"I'm saying this as a veteran from the Great War. I agree with Largo and so do several others. She would have been only a few years old when the Treaty of Versailles was signed, and the ALF was founded right around that time. So how is that even possible?" asked Catherine in her thick Irish accent.

"I was getting to that," stressed Jack, "Lucina's grandfather founded the ALF. When he died he passed the position into Lucina's father until the same happened to him which in turn passed the position finally onto Lucina. Though I'd expect nothing less from Archanean royalty-" said Jack, stopping himself short, and covering his mouth with his hands once he realized he had revealed too much.

But by then it was too late. The damage had already been done. The others had heard his mention of the word 'royalty', which only caused them to become more interested in what Jack had to say. "Wait a minute here Jack. 'Royalty'? Is there something you know that we don't here?" asked Alicia, now slightly irritated that Jack was keeping information from them.

"Okay well, this wasn't suppose to happen," admitted Jack, taking off his helmet and running a hand through his black hair. Now that he had accidentally let the cat out of the bag, there was no going back with what he was going to reveal next. "Well listen up and listen good. Because this is a lot to take in. When the Archaneans started their little crusade against the Valkyrur, a man named Anri led them. When the Valkyrur were destroyed, Anri was placed as the first king of Archanea. His family line led the nation until the Nazis overthrew them and supposedly killed the royal family. Lucina...is quite possibly Anri's only living descendant," he explained, shedding the last bit of light on the situation.

"So wait! If she's royalty, then doesn't that make her...," started Edy, upon realizing what Jack was implying. But Jack managed to stop her and finished with "A princess of Archanea. And the rightful ruler of Germania, perhaps over all of Europe." Now everyone was both surprised and impressed. The woman they had just met was not only the leader of the ALF, but also the last living descendant from perhaps the oldest dynasty in Europan history. The chances for any one of them to meet someone like that was extraordinarily slim, almost to the point of being nonexistent. But even now, they just couldn't believe their luck.

Everyone except Isara, of all people. She brought them all back on topic when she walked over to Jack and asked curiously "You said that she was an old friend of yours. How did you meet her exactly?"

Where she had expected an answer, instead she was surprised when Jack let out a laugh. He got up from his chair and patted Isara gently on her head before answering "I'll answer that story for another time kiddo. For now, let's just stick to that she's an old friend of mine and leave it at that."

"Um, from what just happened earlier, she didn't seem like your friend to me," countered Hermes, hinting at when Lucina punched Jack in the nose only earlier. and as if on cue, they heard someone cough. Not to clear their throat, but to gain someone's attention. It came from above so everyone looked to the top of the stairs to see Lucina. For the second time today, all eyes were trained upon her as she graciously made her way down the steps, her left hand gliding down upon the side railing. Welkin had to admit, there was something about her that caused her presence to fill the room. There was also this...aura about her. Like she was radiating some kind of energy about her that made her seem to draw people's attention. Like it was almost impossible for other's to ignore her, even if they tried. And right now, all of Squad 7's attention was focused upon one single person: Lucina, the fallen Princess of Archanea.

"And as to your question, yes, Jack and I were friends but now we aren't. Let's leave it at that," she explained as she went down the final few steps thus joining the group.

Wanting to get it off his chest, Welkin walked up to her and asked "I mean no offense your Highness. But what are you doing here in Gallia?"

"I suppose it's fair that I should tell you the truth. Very well. As Jack has probably told you earlier no doubt, the organization I head fights against the Nazis. When the Nazis invaded Gallia I moved some of our operations here. My men have been working inside German territory disrupting supply lines, assassinating officers, and other sorts of activities. Part of the reason why the German Blitzkrieg didn't succeeded is because of the work we've done. When I heard that the Gallian Army was launching an operation to retake Vasel, I decided to take our involvement a step further," she explained in detail. Welkin pondered that information in his head. While he was signing up for the Militia, he had heard about acts of sabotage being performed on the German army advancing into Gallia. Nobody truly knew exactly who it was that was doing it, mostly thinking that it was the work of Gallian civilians turned partisans. But the attacks seemed to organized, too well thought out for it to be the work of simple partisans. What Lucina was saying suddenly made all those report make sense. It was the ALF that hit those targets. It was them that decided to intervene in the German invasion. And when she mentioned that she planned to take their involvement 'a step further', he had a pretty good idea about what she meant.

"Let me guess, you want to offer a formal alliance between the ALF and Gallia to fight Germania," hypothesized Welkin, taking a shot at what she truly meant.

With a smile, Lucina nodded, replying back "Very astute, Lieutenant. Indeed that is what I had in mind. I planned on heading to Fort Amaranthine to discuss this with your leaders when my plane was shot down. With your assistance, I'm sure we'll get there without any other distractions."

"Are you sure you want to do that ma'am? We have a General who's not the easiest person in the world to have a conversation with. And he doesn't think kindly of anyone that isn't one of the Regulars," warned Largo, wanting to make sure that she isn't going in over her head.

"You mean your General Damon don't you? I wouldn't worry about him. I've gotten used to dealing with people like him. He doesn't intimidate me one bit," she said in an assuring voice.

* * *

While the conversation was happening in the main lobby. Jack had gone in the adjacent room, and now stood near one of the windows that weren't boarded up, staring out into space. Seeing Lucina come down the steps, Jack instinctively decided to leave, wanting to avoid a confrontation with her so that it wouldn't jeopardize his safety anymore than usual. He already had one bad reunion with Lucina and it caused him a broken nose, he wasn't looking forward to the 'second dose' she had mentioned earlier. Jack just couldn't believe that he would ever meet Lucina again, and in Gallia of all places. But now that she was back in his life, all those memories, memories about her and him, just started flooding back. Memories, that he had managed to keep suppress and stay hidden inside him for a while now.

He could suddenly remember all the specific memories of her, like the time when they first met. It was 1925, he was eight years old and was on one of his father's diplomatic visits, this one to the Nazi Reich. He was with his mother, and two members of her security detail, walking through a small town miles from New Berlin. The town was known for it's fine bakeries but Jack didn't find out until years later that the town was also a favorite hiding spot for those who wanted to keep away from the _Gestapo_. Jack's mother was talking to a baker when he first spied the blue haired child. She was with her father not far from where he was and it seemed that she had noticed him as well. They were dressed as common civilians as to not attract attention to themselves. As the members of the Archanean Royal Family, they wanted to make sure that the Nazis couldn't recognize them. Jack went over to talk to her and before he knew it, the two of them were running through the streets laughing the whole way. And to this day, he couldn't remember what was so funny. He then remembered how his mother was looking for him all over and when she finally found him she was both happy that he had found a friend but was also upset that her son had wandered off. The same could be said for Lucina and her father, giving her the exact same speech before apologizing to Jack's mother.

After that day, whenever his Father would take him on trips to Germania, He would always come back to that town, hoping to find Lucina again, which he often did. He would often remember the crazy antics that they would get into, playing pranks on the locals, sneaking food from an army convoy, or 'accidentally' shooting off a few fireworks into a government building and watch the officials scram out, wondering what the hell had just happened. Remembering those memories just brought a smile to his face. That was one of the things he liked about his days with Lucina. How they always believed that they would be friends, no matter what. And even when Lucina told Jack who she really was, it didn't stop their friendship. Not even Jack going to war in 32' stopped them. They would often exchange letters with each other, Jack telling her about his experiences on the front lines while she told him about what she had done leading the ALF. It seemed like the two of them would stay like this forever. However, that would not be the case.

His last trip to Germania was in late December 1934. America's war with the Soviet Union was over and Jack was attending Randgriz University with Welkin. He had come to New Berlin on personal business and decided to come back to that village to see Lucina again. He hadn't seen her in over two years, and his last letter to her was sent almost a month ago. He expected their little reunion to be a happy one, but when he got there he received the exact opposite. When he approached Lucina, she seemed so cold and distant to him. Whenever he tried to talk to her she simply shrugged him off. Jack asked her if something happened and he received the same response gain and again. This continued for several minutes until Lucina finally broke and started yelling at him. She said that he had lied to her all this time and that she said that she hated him and never wanted to see Jack again before storming off, tears in her eyes. Jack was left in the middle of the street, stunned, confused, and hurt over what happened. He spent the rest of that day wondering what it is that he did to make her so upset, coming up with nothing. All that he knew is that from that day, it appeared that his friendship with Lucina was finally over.

He was suddenly brought back to reality when he heard a voice call out to him and said "Deep in your thoughts there Captain?"

Jack turned his head to see Alistair Koller walking towards him from the door, taking a spot on the opposite side of the window. In all that had happened, Jack had almost forgotten about how Alistair was now a part of Squad 7 as their war reporter. This meant that he would be following them as they fought on the front lines, capturing all the moments with his camera on and off the front before sending them overseas back to New York so it can appear in the newspaper and radio. Normally there weren't many war reporters who would risk their lives to get a god story. Koller was the exception to that rule. Jack knew that from hearing about the multiple experiences during the Soviet-American War that he did that. He would also remember the times when he and Koller would just talk with each other. Not for an interview, just to pass the time. Jack found it a good stress reliever both before and after a big battle.

And here, Jack decided to humor Alistair with a conversation. He answered back truthfully "Yeah. Thinking about what just happened today."

"You mean with you and the Archanean Princess?" inquired a curious Alistair, "How come you never mentioned about that before?"

"I don't know, I just didn't think it was all that important," lied Jack, he didn't want to put out the real reason why.

"Not important! Hello! Captain Jack Lawrence, the Hero of Anchorage and Lucina, the Archanean Royal are friends! How could you not say that it's important?" exclaimed Alistair, not agreeing to what he was saying.

"Would you stop calling me that? The war with the Reds is long over, and I'm no longer a Captain. So just stop-" started Jack, getting slightly irritated at being called by those titles again. But before he could finish his rant, he noticed something peculiar out the window. Alistair seemed to notice his reaction and looked out the window to see what was he saw. What they both saw, was something that nobody in this building wanted to see.

* * *

Outside the town hall, on one of the streets that led to it, a seemingly endless group of soldiers raced towards Mullow's town hall. Armed with Kar98k's, MP40's, Gewehr 43's, Stg44's, along with several MG42's, this heavily armed group of German troops were quickly closing the distance between them and their target. Normally a group such as this would bring fear among any platoon in Europe, but these guys weren't just troops from the _Wehrmacht_. These troops, clad in black uniforms, were those of the _Waffen SS_, the Nazi elite and Byzantium's personal hit men. The very mention of the _SS_ brought an intense level of dread upon their enemies, for they knew that this infamous group would offer them no mercy and take no prisoners. And if you were a Darcsen, they would bring the hammer down upon you harder than anyone else.

These troops were the _SS_ soldiers that had been hunting Lucina and her escorts for the past several days, they had managed to sneak past the thinly guarded Gallian front to reach her. Tracking her to Mullow, they moved quickly to encircle the building she was in in order to prevent her escape. They were ordered to take her alive by any means, and their commander was going to make sure of that, even if his troops wouldn't listen to him.

Walking among the already running soldiers, their commanding officer. Lieutenant Iohan 'Blunt' Comescu, a soldier infamous in the ranks of the _SS_. His troops called him 'Blunt' because that was how he always talked: he was blunt about everything, no matter what. He never wore the traditional _SS_ officer's uniform, opting for a common infantry uniform with his rank emblazoned upon his shoulders along with all the gear of a foot soldier as well. He also wore a cloth with the Darcsen pattern that he tied around his left arm. And instead of the officer's cap, he wore a black German field cap, with a twin lightning bolts pin, the symbol of the _SS, _as well as the crossed swords from a pirate flag below the bolt, attached to it. He preferred leading from the front so he figured that he should be dressed like all the other soldiers. His sidearm, a Lahti L-35 pistol, a Finnish copy of the Luger pistol placed into a holster strapped to his right hip. He also had an M/38 Pystikorva bolt-action rifle with a sniper scope, another Finnish gun, strapped over his shoulder.

To many he would seem like a common _SS_ soldier. But what made him different from the other _SS_ Lieutenants was his race. His dark-blue hair, in a style similar to Welkin's hair, short stubble on his chin, and eyes were distinctive, making him stand out. No one could second guess what this meant, Iohan was a Darcsen fighting for the SS. A rare thing in the world today. Something that nobody thought was even possible

And as his troops ran past him, he pointed forward, signalling for them to press on before shouting in English "Move it, surround the town hall! Make sure that no one escapes, quickly! The 'False Royal' will be ours before the day is out!"

* * *

**It appears that there will be a fight in Mullow now! Can't wait to see how Squad 7 manages to beat the _Waffen SS_. It will sure be interesting!**

**As for the Darcsen _SS_ soldier Iohan Comescu. A fan of this story suggested that I put him in. He gave me the character outline for him and I found it quite interesting. I figured that it would be an interesting character to have in this story. I mean a Darcsen _SS_ officer? It would be interesting. I plan to have him get a more prominent role than simply have him be there for one fight. So you'll end up seeing him again after this.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	23. Iohan Comescu

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Mullow town hall _

_1200 hours (12:00 pm)_

_"Lieutenant Iohan 'Blunt' Comescu. The commander of the SS troops that attacked us at Mullow. I had never truly met the man before that day, but I had heard a great deal about him. None of which I ever believed to be true. I mean, a Darcsen fighting in the SS? I always thought that he was some tale that the Nazis spun up to keep their Darcsen slaves in line. But at Mullow, I saw with my very eyes, that the stories about him were true. At Mullow, Squad 7 and I fought against a terrifying man._

_ His origins were somewhat sketchy, with many different versions told. However, there was one tale that everyone agreed on, the tale that I was told. From how it goes, Iohan was born was the slums of Romania's capital, Bucharest. Much of his childhood was unknown however. His tale continues when he was seventeen. Apparently, he had somehow managed to smuggle himself and a rifle into Germania. From there he made a living hunting in the Black Forest. Except he wasn't just hunting wolves, deer, and bears. With his rifle in hand, he began taking out any German patrols he would encounter within the forest. Killing each of them to the last man. Soon, word spread among the German troops of the region about a supposed 'Darcsen Demon' who mercilessly killed the Kaiser's troops. Iohan apparently kept at this for weeks, taking down a whole swath of Nazis. But it didn't last long._

_He was soon captured by the SS and was brought to Berlin for public execution. But at the last minute, he was brought before Byzantium in chains and under guard. Byzantium had somehow found his skills to be very impressive. He offered Iohan a choice: he could either be pardoned and given a position as a soldier within the ranks of the SS, or simply be led straight back to his execution. I don't know what on earth possessed him, but he accepted the offer. All I can say about is that Iohan likely had some kind of ulterior motive when he had joined. What it was, I had no idea, but it probably wasn't good._

_After that audience with the Kaiser, Iohan became the first Darcsen ever to be admitted into the ranks of the Waffen SS. And through his five years as a part of them, he somehow managed to rise through the ranks to Lieutenant, and acquired a fearsome reputation as well. And we were surprised to see that the man lived up to that reputation at Mullow." - Jack Lawrence_

Jack and Alistair rushed for the door once they realized who the armed men approaching the town hall were. Jack reached the door first, opening it as fast as he could before entering the main lobby. He frantically made his way through the crowd of Squad 7 members, shoving and pushing past them as he made his way to Welkin and Lucina, followed closely by Alistair. After all the bustling to get past them he finally managed to escape to find the two of them still in conversation. However the moment that he passed through they stopped talking to looked to him. They were slightly confused with why he was suddenly wanting to come and talk to them. Before they could ask why, Jack managed to blurt out "Boss, we got a problem. A really, really, big problem."

"Define 'big problem'," suggested Welkin, growing a little concerned about what Jack would say next.

At this point Alistair came up behind him and clarified "Lawrence and I were in the adjacent room when we noticed something out through the window. We've got company. A lot. And they're heading straight for us."

"Who?" asked Lucina, now equally worried.

"Most likely they're the _SS_ assholes that have been hunting you down," said Jack bluntly. Lucina's eyes widened with shock at the mention of the _SS_ having found her. _They found me?! This quickly?! How was this possible?!, _she thought before suddenly bolting towards the stairs without saying another word. Racing up towards the second floor, she knew that she had to get to her men and confirm what Jack was saying. It wasn't that due to the strain in their relationship she didn't believe him. She just wanted to make sure that he didn't mistake them for someone else.

"Largo, ready everyone for a fight! Alicia, come with me!," barked Welkin, giving orders to his men. Soon he and Alicia ran after Lucina at the same pace that she was running at.

Largo followed Welkin's orders by shouting out to the other 7's "You heard the boss. Grab your guns and take positions by the windows! Double time it! Move"

* * *

Outside the town hall, the German troops began surrounding the town hall, setting up firing positions faced towards the town hall. They also placed riflemen by the windows and on the rooftops of the buildings that were closest to the town hall as well. Their MG42's were placed upon either bipods on the hoods of cars or on tripods inside the buildings. Snipers were placed well behind the German lines to both protect them and provide the front line troops with some fire support. Due to the fact that now vehicle of any kind could get past the thick brush on the forest outskirts, they could not bring any tanks to bear on their enemies in Mullow. The _SS_ made up this weakness by bringing a substantial amount of troops and weaponry. Normally a large force such as that wouldn't be able to move undetected, but the fact that since the only thing guarding the front were a few squads of Gallian Regulars. They could easily sneak pass their patrols without any major difficulty. The number of _SS_ troops gathered most likely outnumbered the Gallian and Archanean troops about three to one. And even though this particular Militia Squad had faced worse odds in the past few days, the fact that they were facing elite _SS_ troops tipped the scales in the Germans favor. And now here they were, the muzzles of their weapons trained on the town hall, scanning the windows for any sign of movement.

Hiding behind one of the motor vehicles, Iohan looked through his binoculars to see that his troops were almost in position for their operation to begin. And he was prepared to get this done, once and for all. He and his troops had been chasing Lucina for several days now. And every time he thought that they had her cornered, she would somehow slip right through his fingers and move closer towards the Gallian lines. Each time that she had escaped only caused Iohan to become frustrated. It wasn't easy being an officer in the _SS_, where you were expected to succeed in every mission. And the fact that he was a Darcsen, only meant that the standards for him alone were double than those of a non-Darcsen _SS_ officer. If he failed to capture his target, than it was most likely that his life would be forfeit. And he had come too far to let everything he worked so hard for be for nothing. He had too succeed here, he had too. There was no point in going back if he didn't.

_"Herr Leutnant!" _spoke one of the German soldiers to Iohan. Iohan looked to see his Sergeant crawling over to his position.

Once he was settled, the Sergeant looked over to Iohan again and said "We've completely surrounded the building. The only way that they're going to get out is through us."

A smile appeared on Iohan's face, the first one in a very long time. For he was pleased that for once, things were going his way. But he knew that he had to take full control of this if he wanted to accomplish the mission without any complications. So he looked to his Sergeant and ordered loud and clear "Have the men hold their positions and keep their weapons trained upon the town hall. No one, and I repeat no one is to open fire unless I give the order. If anyone disobeys that order I will shoot them myself. Got it?"

_"Verstanden __Leutnant," _responded the Sergeant, before moving off to relay the message to the rest of the men. Iohan grabbed the strap of the rifle and removed the weapon from his shoulder. Opening one of his ammunition pouches, Iohan took out a clip of five 7.92 millimeter rounds into the breach, readying himself for combat. It wasn't as if he expected that there would be a shootout between his troops and the Archanean Princess's security forces, since the most likely outcome for that would be his forces emerging victorious in every scenario. He just always preferred to enter a situation with a loaded weapon. A habit he had picked up during his five years of service within the _SS_.

Then again, it's not like he did what he did for the sake of Kaiser Byzantium. In fact, he held no love for the Nazis or their empire. Nor did he hold any love for the _SS_ troops that would be placed under his command. They could all be killed in a battle and he wouldn't shed a tear. But that didn't mean that he believed that they had their uses. He could often manipulate their undying devotion for their Kaiser as a way to carry out his mission. However, he had no real reason to do that here. It would just be a simple mission: grab the royal, preferably unharmed, then drag her sorry ass back to Byzantium. Open and shut mission. That is until his Sergeant returned back with some info he didn't know about.

"Um, sir? We seem to have a slight problem," started the Sergeant, sounding unsure about whether of not to tell him what he had found out. Iohan stopped checking on his rifle and slowly turned his head to face the German Sergeant. The smile upon his face had now been replaced with a look of irritation and anger. For the Sergeant he knew that the soldier was about to give him the bad news that he really didn't need today.

"Some of our scouts found a couple of abandoned Gallian trucks as well as a tank. One that we've never seen in the enemy arsenal before. However it's marking match those of an armored vehicle in use by a Militia platoon that according to the Gallian radio chatter have been classified as a degree higher than a normal unit in the Militia. They're reportedly been seen capturing one of our outposts outside of Vasel as well as the city itself. So it's quite possible that...that um," stuttered the German Sergeant, quite afraid of how his superior was going to take this information.

"What is it? Spit it out you _prost_," demanded Iohan, growing quite impatient with the lack of an answer being given to him.

The Sergeant decided that it would probably be in his best interest to just admit what he knew instead of trying to let him down easy. So he just blurted out to Comescu "Sir, we believe that the Militia platoon that drove our troops from Vasel is here in Mullow. More specifically, they're inside the town hall with the False Royal."

Iohan's expression changed very rapidly. His face became so red from the anger that it appeared that he was about to burst a blood vessel. Just when things were about to go very well, he gets this news and his whole day has been thrown upside down.

"You're telling me...that a whole fucking platoon of Gallian Militiamen is inside that damn building?!" shouted Iohan, not believing what he was hearing.

The Sergeant simply gulped before answering meekly "Y-yes sir." Iohan is suddenly being filled with frustration and rage. He had been chasing this woman for days, working tirelessly to get his hands on her. And now where it seems like she's not far from his grasp, there is now a big obstacle between him and her. With all the anger building up inside of him, he would've shot the German where he stood. But halted when he remembered something that his subordinate had said earlier.

He said that he had found abandoned vehicles. That meant that this Militia squad probably thought that there weren't any enemy troops inside, so they decided to enter the town with only their foot soldiers, leaving their vehicles unguarded. Without any armored support, he had the advantage in the number of troops and weaponry. If it turned into a shootout, he just simply had to make them run out of ammo and he would succeed in the end. Or he could simply call on the Gallians to surrender. There was no possible way that they could win. And he knew that any competent Militia commander would not want to needlessly sacrifice his troops in a hopeless battle. He would most likely try to negotiate a surrender. All that Iohan had to do was oblige with it. He would simply send them to a prison camp while he took Lucina to Byzantium. Suddenly, his options were looking a lot better once more.

He soon looked once more to the Sergeant and calmly ordered "Take a small force of men and guard those vehicles. If they break through then that's where they'll go. Make sure that they don't get them back."

The Sergeant sighed for a brief moment, glad that he wasn't about to bring the 'Darcsens Demons' wrath upon him. Though he generally didn't like the fact that he was taking orders from a Darcsen, a race of people he had been told from birth were below him and every other good German. Iohan's reputation was a very fearsome one among the _SS_. Those who either insulted him or disobeyed him generally faced the muzzle of his Lahti pistol, being the last sight they ever see. He just nodded and replied "Yes sir. I'll get on that right away Lieutenant."

The Sergeant soon took about half a dozen of the closest _SS_ troops that he could find before running off with them towards where the abandoned Gallian vehicles were supposedly kept. Once they were out of sight, Iohan returned his focus back on the situation at hand.

* * *

"God, there's so many of them. Byzantium must really want you captured Lucina," said Alicia, surprised by the mass amount of troops she could see outside the window. She had seen a lot of German troops in the battles they had fought, no question about that. But all these soldiers just to capture one woman? That could be seen in multiple ways considering what side of the situation you were looking on. For Lucina, she saw that it was a sign that she was doing her job well. And for Byzantium, he sees her as that big of a threat that he had to send in this large amount of troops after her.

"You're telling me. I don't know if I should be impressed or disgusted that he brought this here for me," spat out Lucina.

"You expected more?" Asked Welkin.

"I expected a small army, not half a battalion. Makes me feel like I'm not doing enough to his empire," explained Lucina. But even though she expected more than what was outside, Lucina was still very worried. With number of guards she brought along, they alone would not be enough to get her out of this kind of situation. Even with Squad 7 supporting her, there was still a large chance that they would end up losing a few people in a shootout with the _SS_. If they were going to get out of this alive, then they were going to have to come up with a plan and fast. There was no telling when the shooting would start.

"These guys have us surrounded. And they've brought a lot of firepower too," commented Alicia, analyzing their enemy though the cracks of the hastily boarded up window.

"Yeah. And I doubt that they're just going to let us walk out," joked Welkin.

He then looked to Lucina and inquired to her "Got any advice for dealing with _SS_ troops? You must have fought them at least once during your battles."

"Well you're correct. My forces and I have engaged these troops in the past. But I'm afraid no strategy I possess will be of much help at this point. Not with us sustaining heavy casualties," informed Lucina with a look of regret as she had no real tactics that had the capability of them all getting out of this without a scratch. However there was one glimmer of hope that she knew about.

"But if I understand correctly Lieutenant, you managed to lead your platoon against a German force in Vasel that numbered over a thousand armed men. Perhaps you can come up with a strategy to win this fight," recommended Lucina.

"You know, she has a point Welkin. There has to be something we can do," pleaded Alicia.

Welkin rubbed the back of his head before admitting "I don't know. From what I've heard from her and Jack. These guys are nothing like the regular German troops. This fight won't be like the ones that we're used to by now. But I'll try to think up something...hopefully. Right now, we should go downstairs and check on the others."

* * *

"Why aren't they doing anything? Shouldn't they be shooting at us or something?" asked Rosie, having taken position next to the window in the main lobby. For a few minutes, she had been bracing herself for a fight that was supposedly going to happen. But for some reason, it never came. She notice that the Germans were just sticking to cover, weapons trained upon them as if they were going to fire. But she often stuck her head by taking a peak through the cracks in the boards, just to see if they would do something. But surprisingly, not a single _SS_ soldier did so much as take a pot shot at her. For her, she knew that something was truly off about this.

"Your right. Something's off here," said a very cautious Largo, kneeling on the other side of the window as he did a final check on his rifle. He knew from experience that it was unusual for the _SS_ to wait this long when they know where the target was. They would usually attack full force when they saw the enemy, not wait and hide a few meters away. _What the hell is going on?, _he thought. The sound of footsteps coming from behind made him turn around to see Welkin coming back down the stair followed by Alicia and Lucina.

Largo got back up on his feet and asked "Hey boss. What's up with the krauts? They're being too quiet all of a sudden. And I don't like it."

"I don't know. But I share your sentiment. Something is up," suggested Welkin upon reaching the ground floor.

"Maybe their boss'll tell us. That is if we survive this. Hey wait, I think I see him," announced Jack, looking through another window in the lobby with Isara standing right behind him, rifle in hand and ready to go. For some reason Isara was watching Jack closely, as if waiting for him to show some kind of reaction to suddenly pop up on his face. He held his hands over his eyes to help focus better and to get a more clear view of the person he believed was their commanding officer. After a few moments, she got her reaction when Jack's eyes opened up so fast that it seemed like they would pop out of his skull.

"No way. He's real?" asked Jack in a low voice, sounding like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Without taking his eyes off the target, Jack asked "Alicia, hand me those binoculars will you?" He motioned wit one of his hands for her to hand it over which she did. Jack placed the binoculars to his eyes in order to get a better look. And the moment he saw him, the man's appearance only confirmed what he had already suspected. A tall, twenty-two year old, Darcsen _SS_ officer.

"Comescu," mumbled Jack, lowering the binoculars from his eyes and turning towards the others.

"Comescu? What's that?" asked Rosie, wondering what Jack meant.

Shaking his head slightly, Jack clarified "No, no, Comescu's not a 'what' he's a 'who'. His full name is _SS_ Lieutenant Iohan 'Blunt' Comescu. More importantly he's the guy who's out there leading this hit squad."

"You talk as if you know him. Did you meet him during your father's travels?" inquired Isara, admitting that she was curious as to who this man was.

"Not in person no. But I did hear a lot about that guy. This guy's a rarity for an _SS_ officer. He's unorthodox, recruited personally by Kaiser Byzantium, but never stationed at any of the concentration camps or ghettos. As far as I can tell this guy has never taken part in a Darcsen hunt at least once," explained Jack.

"How's that even possible?" wondered Largo. He knew that one of the primary jobs of the _SS_ is to guard the concentration camps that Germania had set up for the Darcsens to work in as slave labor. He found it had to believe that there was even a single member of the SS that didn't take part in any of those duties. It made him wonder if there was some particular reason that exempted him from those duties. And as if by magic, he soon received his answer.

"That's because he is one. A Darcsen I mean," admitted Lucina quite bluntly. That admission only caused the others in the room to gasp in surprise by what they just heard. A Darcsen fighting for the _SS_? They just couldn't believe that it was even possible. The Nazis hated the Darcsens more than anything, and the _SS_ were some of the most fanatical in their hatred. How could any Darcsen swear allegiance to that organization, much less be allowed to enlisted for it?

"You're kidding right? A dark-hair with the _SS_? That's just crazy!" shouted out Rosie to Lucina.

"I wish it was. But sadly I've encountered that man in the past. He's a man who lives up to his reputation. But honestly, we should discuss about him more when this is over," suggested Lucina.

"Right, any idea as to how we beat this guy Welkin?" asked Alicia, hoping for an answer. Before Welkin could even respond however, they all heard a sharp shriek and turned to see Aisha face first on the ground, Juno coming up right behind her. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that she had likely tripped. Though as Juno helped her get up, she kept wondering what it was she tripped on. The only thing on the floor was a thin rug, nothing that a normal person would actually trip on.

"Aisha, are you alright?" asked a concerned Juno. Aisha simply nodded back at her with an innocent face while dusting off her clothes. She then looked down in order to do the same for the rest of her uniform, when she spotted something interesting upon the ground. The rug that she landed on had curled up a little bit, revealing something that it was covering. She quickly knelled down and started moving the rug, revealing a hidden trapdoor. Aisha's face soon beamed with excitement as she hopped up and down, pointing towards the trapdoor shouting "Look! Look!"

The others in the room scurried over to see exactly what she had found. They gathered around in a circle, with Isara grasping the handle and opening the trapdoor to reveal a deep ditch lit by a string of dim lights. Isara jumped down, her head still above the ground. Kneeling down, she found out that the lights went on and on, in a certain direction. This wasn't ditch, but an tunnel. It was probably built by Mullow's inhabitants in case they needed to evacuate in a moments notice. However the tunnel itself wasn't very wide, even with Isara's small frame it was impossible for anyone to enter the tunnel in a single fire line. And the height of the tunnel meant that you would have to hunch down as you made your way through. Either way, it was now clear that Squad 7 and the Archanean's had their way out of this battle.

"It's a tunnel. I think it goes all the way to the town's outskirts," informed Isara.

Jack let out a laugh as he patted Aisha on the head. "Nice going kiddo. You just saved all our asses," he praised.

"Um, what's an 'ass'?" wondered Aisha. Juno stepped forward almost immediately, answering "It's a word you'll know the meaning of when your older."

"Forget about that. We've got an escape route. I suggest that we use it boss," suggested Largo, clearly seeing how this tunnel would be useful to them.

Welkin nodded in agreement before responding "Agreed. Gather everyone and start dropping into the tunnel. And we should do it quickly. We know that Comescu's going to attack soon, but I'd rather not be here when he does." Largo and Rosie immediately rushed off to get the rest of the squad.

Isara started moving first with Jack climbing in after her once there was enough space. Though Jack was used to tight space like trenches and foxholes. It was different when it came to tunnels. They could cave in on you if not properly supported and there was a chance that oxygen levels in the tunnel would likely go out depending on the length the tunnel travels and the amount of people coming through. So it was fare to say that he trusted tunnels a little bit less. Though at this moment he figured that he didn't have much of a choice considering the situation present. "Come on Lucy," he said gesturing for Lucina to come down next.

"Lucy?" asked Alicia with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Don't ask," grumbled Lucina, getting down into the tunnel. As Lucina came down, Isara continued forward followed by the others who became coming in more quickly as Squad 7 made their way inside the tunnel. They were all rushing forward at a brisk pace as time wasn't on their side.

"I hope this tunnel _does_ reach to the outskirts. If we end up coming through some manhole right next to the_ SS_ then I am going to be very pissed," admitted Jack.

* * *

Translations German-English and Romanian-English (In order of appearance)

1\. _Herr Leutnant!_ \- Lieutenant sir!

2\. _Verstanden __Leutnant. _\- Understood Lieutenant.

3\. _prost__. _\- Fool.

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	24. Jack's Secret Revealed

**Heads up. Something big is about to go down here! You have been warned!**

* * *

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

Through the damp and dark tunnel, Squad 7 slowly trudged towards the other end where hopefully, there was their way out. Isara and Jack led the way, with Jack holding up a lit lantern that he had grabbed from off the wall. Though the tunnel was mostly pitch black, the lamps strung on the walls helped illuminate enough to help show much of the tunnel walls, floor, and ceiling so that they could move through it. They were simply walking now, since they were confident that they were far enough into the tunnel that there was little chance of the _SS_ catching up to them. They could have been moving a bit faster if not for certain people in their little column holding up their progress and causing the, to stop completely.

"Come on Juno. The exit isn't that far off," said Welkin, trying to get the terrified Juno to continue walking. Juno said nothing, and just stood where she was, in the rear of the column shaking in her boots.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Ted. Usually the Juno he saw was calm in tough situations. He didn't know why all of a sudden she was acting so strange.

"Juno's a little claustrophobic Ustinov. That's all," explained Welkin, trying to clarify what was really going on.

Ustinov simply scratched his head and replied as a joke "What does that mean? A fear of Santa Claus?" A few people giggled at that comment. Welkin and Juno simply looked at him with an annoyed look on their faces. Ted cringed a little bit under the stares and backed up a little bit.

Jack spoke up next, explaining "Claustrophobic means 'fear of tight spaces'. This tunnel being one of those such places."

"Wait a minute here. Your afraid of being inside of a tunnel?" questioned Noce in disbelief. Juno turned towards him and simply need back, still not saying a word to anyone.

"You're totally unfazed by the hundreds of thousands of German soldiers running amok, or the millions of bullets whizzing by your head. But being inside of a cramped little tunnel scares you?" questioned Knute.

Juno finally spoke up, holding one of her hands over her mouth."Oh, and a little nauseous too," she admitted. The sound of that made the people closest to her take a few steps back. The fact that the room was cramped, the floor was muddy, and was dimly lit was one thing. But what they didn't need was the stench of vomit emanating throughout the tunnel until they finally got out.

"I don't know why you guys are complaining about this tunnel. What's the big deal?" complained Largo, wondering what everyone's problem was. Those that did have a problem gave Largo the exact same look that Welkin and Juno had given Ted a few moments earlier.

"What? Several of us lived for four years in muddy trenches with Nazi scumbags firing at us and artillery shells raining on her heads and you don't hear us whining about it," defended Largo.

"I won't argue with you there Largo. Though the trenches I fought in weren't as muddy," added Jack, remembering his own experiences of trench warfare during the campaigns in Alaska a few years ago. In the state of Alaska, it was either autumn or winter for over half the year. As such, the American and Russian troops fighting there had to dig their trenches out of the hardened and frozen ground. Sometimes they could't get them deep enough to fit a whole person so troops generally had to crouch while in the trenches. Same could be said for other fortifications such as foxholes, slit trenches, or mounds of dirt used for cover. And though the conditions in the summer were more favorable for building these trenches, they still had to get used to digging in the freezing temperatures and stone hard ground.

Of course the tunnel they were in was nothing like a trench. It was dark, cramped, but still very muddy. He ended up fighting in areas such as these more often than the actual trenches on the front lines. Alaska was less populated than most states, it's population residing in towns near the southern or western edges with the rest being filled up by scattered log cabins within the massive expanse of wilderness and mountains. Alaska was also an area rich in Ragnite so there are also many notable Ragnite mines there that Soviet forces quickly occupied and began stripping bare, though at a slow pace as they were also trying to fend off the American counterattack. Some of the most intense fighting took place around the mines as well as inside them. The Americans fought them inside the Ragnite filled tunnels, trapping many Russian troops inside once the entrances were taken. Many Soviets died in fruitless last stands, but many decided to surrender as they did not want their final resting place to be inside of a cold, dark, and damp Ragnite mine which Jack could understand completely.

"Like, please don't mention the mud. I've got tons of it all over my new boots. And I just had them cleaned," cried Cherry.

"I'm with you there. I'm not much of a fan of mud either," supported Wavy, not looking pleased at all.

"If you want new boots I'll get you some. I am the Quartermaster you know? It's my job to get spare supplies," he mentioned, wanting to not hear her complain anymore.

"Um, no offense. But shouldn't we be more worried about the _SS_ soldiers that could storm the town hall at any moment and find this tunnel? Shouldn't that be our first priority?" asked Alicia, trying to get everyone back towards the situation at hand.

"I agree with Miss Melchiott, time is not on our side. We need to get moving now and without delay if we want to evade them," added Lucina, believing that it was in their best interest to move past this and quickly.

"Well then, quit your yapping and get on marching!" exclaimed Rosie.

* * *

A large team of _SS_ soldiers abandoned their cover along the blockade of motor vehicles and began to cautiously make their way towards the front door of the town hall. They stacked up next to the door, readying their weapons and themselves for breaching the door. Iohan had currently been waiting for some kind of sign that there was someone inside. Hoping that his target was inside as well. After seeing nothing at all for almost half an hour, he had begun to grow very impatient. He decided he would have to risk it and sent in a team to search the place for her, though it may turn into a shootout, with her getting killed in the process, Iohan didn't care. Even though Byzantium wanted her alive, he wouldn't care any less because her being dead would be just as good. The last of the Archanean Royal Family dead would just be one big thorn out of his side.

One of the soldiers broke a window and hurled a few grenades in. After a few moments the grenades exploded, and the _SS_ rushed inside, weapons drawn and shouting distinct orders to each other very loudly in German. And as the last of them entered the building, Iohan calmly walked towards the town hall, highly expectant as what they would find inside. The moment he had gotten to the door, one of the _SS_ soldiers who breached the building appeared in the doorway. Iohan noticed that he didn't have any prisoners with him. And his face showed one of disappointment which made Iohan all the more nervous as to what had just happened. "Well? Did you find anyone inside?" he asked, wondering what was going on.

"Um, sir. There's nobody inside," responded the _SS_ soldier truthfully. Iohan's face suddenly turned to surprise and anger at the man's words. _Nobody inside? How was that even possible? They had been watching the building the entire time, he thought to himself,_ trying to figure out how Lucina had managed to slip between his fingers once more. Deciding to see the building for himself in an attempt for some answer, he shoved past the SS soldier in the door way and made his way into the main lobby. The furniture that had been used to barricade the front door were now strewn all over the floor by Iohan's troops whom moved them aside to clear the door for entry.

Inside all he saw were his troops standing around, huddled around some trapdoor that they had found underneath some kind of elaborate carpet. He walked over to see that this trapdoor was the cover to some kind of hole, not even neck deep. But upon closer examination, he saw that the hole in fact some kind of tunnel. Iohan quickly came to the realization that Lucina, her escorts, and the Gallian Militia squad must have used this tunnel in order to evade his troops and make their way out of town. The fact that they had so easily managed to get past his security net now began to agitate him to no end. He had to figure out how to get past this setback and find a way to track them down and catch up to them before they made it back across the river and back to the safety of Gallian lines.

Just as he was desperately trying to think of something up, one of his troops tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around to face him, and once Iohan did the soldier handed him some kind of map. "Sir. One of us found this map in the mayors office, just lying on his desk. It appears to be the map for the tunnel that the False Royal and her Gallian escort are using. It shows where the tunnel starts, leading all the way to the other side where the exit is," the _SS_ soldier explained as Iohan took possession of the map.

Iohan took a good look at the map in his hands, making sure that he could study every detail no matter how insignificant. On it it showed a scale model of the town along with some of the surrounding forest and main roadway. One thin shaded line went from the middle of Mullow, around where the town hall should be, and moved to the northwest past the outskirts, ending at an area near the main road. What made it significant was that it was where the Gallian vehicles were, along with the men that Iohan had sent earlier to guard.

Iohan smirked at this news. It all seemed to good to be true. His targets were unwittingly and unknowingly walking right to a position where he could finally catch them. The fly was entering the spider's web, with Iohan and the _SS_ being the spiders. Though he had to move quickly. There was no telling when they could reach it or where specifically the tunnel would appear in that area. And the small amount of his troops he had sent there wouldn't be enough to stop a whole platoon of Militiamen, even with the element of surprise. Thankfully, he had a large host of _SS_ troops inside Mullow, ready for a fight.

Taking his eyes of the map and back to the soldier who had given him it and ordered clearly and precisely "Have exactly three platoons of our troops stationed around that exit, including my good friend Corporal Dredger. Radio the Sergeant in charge of our troops guarding the vehicles, tell him to start looking for it. Have the rest of our troops pull back behind our lines, we don't need them for this. And double time with those men. I'm not letting her get away from me this time."

He gave Iohan a quick salute before repeating his orders in German to the others. They all ran out of the building, gathering the team for the ambush and to inform the others by the vehicles. The soldier who gave Iohan the map was about to join them before he grabbed the shoulder by Iohan, signaling that the man's job wasn't over. "But before you go, I need you to grab me a few things."

* * *

"Uh, how much further do we have to go? My legs are getting tired as hell!" complained Hermes, his energy all but spent along with the feeling in his legs. The man truly had nothing in terms of endurance. As such he tended to run out of steam pretty quickly. By now he wasn't really moving his legs much, with Nina now dragging him by his collar.

It was safe to say however that Squad 7 was now moving at a much faster pace then they were a few minutes ago. They had managed to get Juno to keep on moving despite her fears, though that didn't stop her fidgeting as she moved on. Each of them had now grown quite tired of the darkness of the tunnel and we're looking quite forward to actually getting out and seeing the sun again.

Their prayers were answered when Isara shouted out from the head of the column "I think I see the exit. It's not too far now," she informed them. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the news given to them. Their little torment in the tunnel was almost over as they were now on the final stretch of the trek out. And once they were out, they would simply have to hop into their vehicles and drive straight towards Randgriz before delivering Lucina back to base, and Squad 7 could get some warm food and a nice rest. However their moment of joy was ruined as Jack reminded them of a sobering fact.

"Now don't get too excited. We still have to transport her Highness here to Fort Amaranthine. And that means we have to get past our Darcsen _SS_ officer and his little goon parade still in Mullow," he reminded them, noting the one final obstacle that stood in the way of them returning home. What Jack didn't know, what Squad 7 didn't know, was that they were going to end up meeting them a whole lot sooner than they imagined.

* * *

Back in the town hall, Iohan and the lone _SS_ soldier were now the only people still within the confines of the building. Iohan was currently in the tunnel with the items that the soldier had brought him while he stood patiently topside watching it all unfold from the opened trapdoor. He had gathered a box of stick grenades, tape, scissors, and several long lines of fuses. Iohan took three stick grenades out of the box and taped them together in groups of three before taping them to the wooden beams which acted as supports that held up the tunnel. He did this five more times, placing each one on a different support beam. By now he had three bundles of stick grenades on each side of the tunnel. He then grabbed the fuses and placed one in each of the bundles where it was most likely to detonate them. He then tied them together in a knot along with the longest out of all of them. Once it was all finished, he exited the tunnel back through the trapdoor, fuse cord still in hand. He pulled the cord upon the hound after stretching it as far as it could go from the tunnel.

Iohan than proceeded to reach into his pocket and pull out a silver colored cigarette lighter and flipped it open, clicking furiously trying to get a decent flame. As he did it, the soldier who was with him walked up and asked nervously "Um, Lieutenant? What exactly is it that you're doing?"

Without taking his eyes off the lighter, Iohan calmly answered in one of the most classic ways. 'Answering a question with a question' it was. "Tell me Private, do you know what my profession was before I was recruited into the _SS_? What I did that gave me the title of 'The Darcsen Demon'?"

The question itself surprised the soldier a bit. The reason why Iohan was called that was well known throughout the _SS_ and the whole of the _Wehrmacht_ itself. But he did realize that if he didn't provide this answer than this conversation wasn't going to go anywhere fast. "You were an orphan from Romania. You came into Germania and hunted our patrols in the Black Forest. We captured you, then the Kaiser placed you within the _SS_," he answered truthfully.

"The key word in what you just said is _hunt_. I was a hunter. One who hunted both man and beast for several weeks, day in and day out. And what is the one thing that every successful hunter does?" clarified Iohan, saving the question for last.

When the soldier simply shook his head, Iohan continued with "What every hunter knows, is how to push their prey out of hiding. I know where our foes are heading: the vehicles. It's their only means of escape. And since we know exactly how they're going to get there," he started. Suddenly, he struck gold on the lighter, finally getting a flame.

"Doesn't mean we don't want them to arrive a little faster," he finished. The look on the soldier's face showed that he finally began to understand exactly what it was he was that Iohan was trying to tell them.

What Iohan had noticed when they discovered the tunnel, was that many of the supports seemed rather weak. On the verge of breaking and causing a massive collapse would have been more accurate. A single stray bullet or grenade would be enough to fracture enough supports to cause a whole failure that would cause the entire tunnel to collapse and bury anyone trapped inside. The amount of explosives that were currently placed inside were more than enough to create that scenario. But Iohan didn't want his targets to be buried. So he placed the grenades at the beams closest to the entrance. The blast would be far enough to give the Gallians and the Archaneans an early warning and more than enough time to reach the exit before the tunnel collapsed.

Wasting no more time, Iohan knelt down and placed the lighter next to the fuse cord. The flame from the lighter ignited the cord, with the fire traveling down it at a fast pace towards the tunnel and the grenades. Upon seeing that his job there was done, Iohan placed the lighter back into his pocket. He then ordered the soldier "Follow me, we regroup with the others at the entrance. And preferably before these grenades go off."

The two of them bolted as they raced towards the meeting point with the other platoons of _SS_ troops that awaited them.

* * *

Welkin and the others were only a few hundred yards from the exit now. The few people in the front of their column could see the sunlight coming through small cracks in the wooden door, or at least they think that it was a wooden door. It was hard to tell in the poor lighting. Suddenly behind them they heard this loud and tremendous boom, the sound being amplified and focused due to the confined spaces of the tunnel. They all turned their heads behind them to see a bright flash of light illuminating from where the tunnel had started. And although it was a ways away from them, making the light seem very small, it was still most certainly coming from the trapdoor entrance. The light most likely came from an explosion, and they could feel the heat from the blast, even as far away as they were, along with a sudden gust of wind to their faces.

Soon, the walls and ceiling of the tunnel began to vibrate furiously. Bits of dirt began to crumble and fall from the ceiling. And as the moments passed on, they could see that the tunnel itself was falling apart, the ceiling collapsing. And the falling ceiling was getting closer and closer to them at a very fast pace.

"Ah fuck! The krauts are trying to bury us!" shouted Largo, realizing what was going on.

"Run for it! Make for the exit!" yelled Welkin as loud as he could. Almost immediately, all of Squad 7 and the ALF rebels ran as fast as they could to the exit. Wanting to get out of this tunnel as fast as they could before they were buried within it. When they reached the door, Isara and Jack, being the first ones in the column, smashed their bodies into the door, barely causing it to budge. Panicking the two kept charging into the door in unison, trying to budge it enough so that the door would finally open. After several tries they failed to break it open, and the tunnel was collapsing fast and was approaching the group fast.

"Hurry it up you two! I don't want this rat hole to be my grave!" yelled Rosie, both impatience and fear evident within her voice.

"I may be a servant of the Lord, but that doesn't mean that I'm so willing to see him this soon!" added Father Hendricks.

Jack and Isara tried several more times to open and only met the same result as their previous attempts. Lucina nudged Jack in the shoulder, suggesting that she wanted to help. She took position on Jack's right with Isara on his left. They braced themselves for a few seconds before charging at the door in unison. The sheer force of their blast knocked the door of it's hinges. The trio staggered for almost a dozen yards before collapsing face first, side by side next to each other, on the grass next to the main road. The rest of the squad piled out alongside the Archaneans just as the tunnel completely collapsed, send a massive cloud of dust billowing out the blown open entrance. The others followed their comrades example and collapsed upon the ground to catch their breaths. They were all just glad that they didn't just get buried several feet underground.

"This is why I hate tunnels," mumbled Jack, raising his head off the ground slightly before getting back up on his feet.

"Let me guess, an unpleasant experience when you were in Alaska?" pondered Lucina, extending her hand up for help. Jack grabbed a hold of her hand and with a mighty heave, pulled her back up on her feet before letting go.

"You have no idea Lucy," commented Jack. The mood was soon shattered by the sound of maniacal laughter that the whole squad heard. Everyone snapped to attention as they looked around to see a host of black clad SS soldiers, about three platoons in size, begin to surround them with their weapons raised and ready. They appeared out of nowhere, almost as if they knew that they were coming, which no doubt they did. No one reached for their guns, knowing all too well that they wouldn't be able to reach them fast enough before the _SS_ would shoot them. Then out of the sea of black, one of their officers appeared in full view and stood right in front of Jack, Lucina, and Isara with a pistol in hand. From the grey beret he wore and the dark-blue hair, it was definitely the man that Jack identified as Iohan Comescu.

"Well hello there. I'm so glad to see you all made it out alive. Now if you would be so kind as to stand back up, leave your guns on the ground, and form up for me then. And don't try anything funny. These men are quite trigger happy," ordered Comescu in a calm and serious tone, showing off that he was in control of the situation.

Knowing what would likely happen if they didn't comply, Welkin looked to his men and said regretfully "Do as he says. I don't want any of you dying on me today."

So slowly one by one, the members of Squad 7 and Lucina's escorts complied with the orders, though they didn't seem to like it. They got back up on their feet and were herded together until they were all in one place. Just close enough for the Germans to keep an eye on them and just out of arms reach of their weapons.

Iohan calmly walked up to the mass of Gallian Militiamen and Archanean rebels, stopping just a few yards away from them. He then pointed his finger at Lucina and just like that two of his soldiers marched up to her and roughly grabbed her by the arms, dragging her towards him. She resisted all along the way, squirming like an animal trying to worm it's way after getting caught in a hunter's trap. And the whole way there she was flinging insults at her captors. "Get your filthy hands off me you rotten Nazi curs," she spat at them.

"Now be a little nicer milady. We had to travel so many miles to find you. And they are quite tired of having to chase you. Myself most of all," lamented Iohan, sounding quite sarcastic. Lucina managed to stop her outbursts and began to calm down. She took a good look at the man she was now facing.

"Ah, look at who we have here. Princess Lucina, descendant of the hero Anri himself, leader of the Archanean Liberation Front. And the ruler of Archanea," mocked Iohan, giving a fake bow before snapping back up and mocking her once more with "Oh but wait, Archanea no longer exist. So that means you aren't a princess, which makes you, nobody really." His troops let out a laugh as he finished insulting Lucina. They seemed to enjoy the sight of their Darcsen Lieutenant talking down to the person labeled as the False Royal.

"You're a Darcsen," she said bluntly.

Iohan didn't seem fazed by that. It was probably because that due to his race and the reputation of the _SS_, it was probably the first thing that people noticed about him. He had heard it so many times that he had gotten rather quite used to it. So Iohan simply shot back at Lucina with "You seem to have a good grasp of the obvious that's for sure. But then again, I know who you are, and you don't know me. Perhaps introductions are in order?"

He then looked towards the rest of the group and gives a slight bow before introducing himself as "I am Iohan 'Blunt' Comescu. Lieutenant of the _Waffen SS,_ the Darcsen Demon of the Black Forest, and for the past five years head of the _SS's_ counter-insurgency task force. Of course you may simply call me Iohan if you'd like."

Lucina knew what he meant. With being the head of the Reich's counter-insurgency task force meant that it was his job to hunt down rebels and insurgents with Germania's borders, with rebels from the Archanean Liberation Front being the most primary of targets. Lucina remembered that because several of her operations were thwarted by Comescu resulting in her losing many good men and woman. She always knew that his primary goal in hunting down the ALF was to find Lucina and bring her before Byzantium. She always knew that she would one come face to face with Comescu because of that, she just didn't expect it to happen this soon. She always wondered what would happen if she met him. And now that she had, there was something she always wanted to know.

"Why is a Darcsen fighting for the Nazis? They want nothing more than to enslave your kind? Are you really-" she started before one of the guards holding her let go for a brief second and punched her hard in the stomach. The other guard released her, and she collapsed to the ground. With one hand she clutched her stomach, wincing in pain, and with the other she pushed against the ground, keeping her from collapsing entirely. Jack ran to try and help her, but one of the men who held Lucina knocked him on the head with the butt of his Kar98k, sending Jack reeling as he to fell onto the ground, clutching his head in pain. Iohan walked over to Lucina and got down to her level by kneeling, though he still looked down on her a little bit.

"You see. That's a question I get asked a lot. And I'm going to tell you the same thing I told everyone else. I have my own reasons for joining the _SS_, and they're my reasons alone. I'm not going to blurt them out so that the entire world will hear. But I will tell you this," he stated. He then got back up and began walking around very slowly as he stated once again "The Nazis rule over perhaps a third over all of Europa. How long till you suppose they'll actually rule over the continent itself? No nation in history has been able to destroy them. And I doubt that there is anyone who can. I fight for them the same reason that you fight against them madam Lucina: to survive. But do not get me wrong. I don't do it because I believe in Byzantium, his ideology, or his supposed 'superiority'. I just do what I have to in order to do one thing: to survive," he explained, laying out the facts carefully.

"So you joined the Reich simply because you wanted to fight for the winning side?" questioned Welkin, still in shock how a Darcsen was rationalizing the facts for his enlistment into the _Waffen SS_.

Upon hearing that comment, Iohan turned towards Welkin and asked him curiously "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name. Who are you exactly?"

"Lieutenant Welkin Gunther. Comander of the Gallian Militia's Squad 7 of the 3rd Regiment," Welkin stated honestly, making who he was very clear. Iohan let those words sink in for a few moments before s small smirk appeared upon his face.

"So this is the son of Belgen Gunther? I suppose this is the Militia band I've heard so much about," commented Iohan, slightly surprised at who their boss was and that this truly was the Militia squad who drove out the German forces stationed at the city of Vasel within two days. The rest of Squad 7 seemed utterly surprised by his statement. They were all wondering if they had heard him right.

"Did you just say that you've heard of us?" asked Alicia, still unsure as to what he was saying was true or not.

"Aye. Your exploits at Vasel have spread rather quickly among the ranks of the Wehrmacht. They tell of a Militia squad who fight as if their enemy is the devil himself. Though that may be an accurate statement considering who it is that you're fighting against," clarified Iohan. The sound of moaning drew Iohan's attention back to Jack, still lying upon the ground, reeling in pain from the blow to the head he had received earlier from one of Comescu's soldiers. Iohan was slightly curious as to who this man was since he was the only one to come to the aid of Lucina. Wanting to get a better look at the man, he signaled with his hand for the two soldiers to pick him up which they did, pinning his arms so that he couldn't get away.

As Iohan strolled over towards him, Jack grunted out in pain "First Lucina breaks my nose, I almost get buried alive, and now I have a concussion and a major headache. this is just not my day."

"And who pray tell, are you suppose to be? Judging from your accent and that flag draped around your neck I'd wager that you're an American. So forgive my callous words but what the blazes are you doing here?" asked Iohan, interrogating Jack as he tried to not wince in whatever pain was still left from the blow he received earlier.

"He's here for the scenery? Why else would he-" shouted Ted, trying to get a laugh even though they were being held at gunpoint. But before he could finish, Marina elbowed him hard in the chest, telling him that he needed to shut up right now. She just didn't understand why he was always trying to get a laugh out of everyone, no matter what was going on. But what she did know was that right now was hardly the appropriate time, nor place, to be cracking any joke whatsoever. So she figured that she would at least now she would get involved when it came to him flapping his gums.

Iohan didn't pay any heed to Ted, instead choosing to ignore him completely and keep his focus upon Jack. "You seem to not be willing to talk. Well I can..." started Iohan but stopped for a moment. He suddenly felt the nagging feeling like he had seen him before, but where was a complete mystery to him. He pondered inside of his head as to where it was possible that he had seem this American before. Then the realization hit him like a rock.

"Wait a minute, I've seen you before. You're that American ambassador's kid, Jack right?" asked Iohan, wondering if he had gotten it right. The look of surprise upon Jack's face was all that he needed to confirm it. Jack was overly surprised by the fact that Iohan knew who he was. _He knows me? How? The two of us have never met before in my life,_ Jack thought to himself. It seemed the Squad had the exact same thoughts as well, having the same look on their face as Jack did.

Trying to get an answer as to how that was possible, he uttered out "How the hell could you know my name? You and I haven't been so much as in the same building before."

In response Iohan began to slowly walk around Jack in a full circle then stopping once they were facing each other again. As he did that he replied back to Jack "Oh yes, you're right. We've never truly met face to face before. But I've always kept a close eye on you. You see the reason why we've never met is because I was ordered not to make any contact with you whatsoever when you were vising Germania. But I've heard your name a lot over the years, as have my superiors. You've built quite a reputation for yourself over the past few years. United States Army Captain Jackson Alexander Lawrence, Hero of Anchorage, Medal of Honor recipient, and a national hero to your people all in the span of two years. That is impressive."

"Does the SS have some kind of file on me or something?" asked Jack, rationalizing that it was the only possible reason as to how they could know so much about him.

"Oh no, your good friend does. I just managed to take a good look at it and copied the file, thoroughly I might add, before shipping off to my superiors," corrected Iohan.

"Wait a minute? 'Good friend'? Jack, what the hell is he talking about?" questioned Largo, wondering what it was that Iohan was implying towards him. It seemed that others in the squad had noticed it as well with Rosie joining in and asking "Yeah, what is it?"

Upon hearing that Iohan burst into a fit of laughter. The way he laughed seemed very disturbing and it scared a few people by how creepy it was. "Ha ha ha. Oh this is too good. You mean to say that you never told them? Oh that's just rich," commented Iohan "But in all fairness, why don't you tell them now since I've brought it up."

Jack's thought raced within his head as he tried to figure out what to do now. This was a part of his past that he didn't want Welkin, Alicia, Isara, or anyone in Squad 7 to know about. The person that Iohan was describing was a close friend of Jack whom he had known since childhood. Though if they found out who it was, they probably wouldn't see it that way. They would see it as a huge betrayal and a large abuse of their trust. Moreover, it could mean the end of Jack's friendship with Welkin and Isara. When he first came to Gallia, his status as an American made him somewhat of an outcast in the university. It was Welkin who saw all through that and became the first true friend he had in Gallia, and his sister Isara was his second. And despite their rocky start, he too cherished his friendship with Alicia as well as the other members of Squad 7. And he wasn't going to lose it like this. In an act of defiance, he managed to free himself from the grip of Iohan's soldiers before looking him dead in the eye and saying in a deep voice "Go to hell Nazi."

Surprisingly, Iohan didn't seemed hurt at all by his response. Instead, with a smile he simply replied back "So that's how it's going to be. Well then, looks like we'll have to do this the hard way," he then looked behind him and called out "Oh Dredger."

Everyone looked to the same direction as they waited for who this 'Dredger' was. They quickly realized who he was talking about, and the man completely surprised them. The man was at least seven and a half feet tall and seemingly very muscular, almost inhuman like. The man had black painted metal armor, much like those of the Gallian infantry, covering him from head to toe. He had armor covering his chest, midsection, back, all over both his arms and legs, hands, waist, feet, heck almost everywhere. There was also a piece of armor around his collar that shielded the back of his neck. The height of this shield almost reached the top of his helmet before gradually shortening down until it reached the sides of his head. Attached to his back seemed like a large tank like you would find on a flamethrower. His helmet was the standard metal helmet, and he wore a kind of metal face mask. the eyes of the mask glowed a bright red and there was a speaker near where the mouth should be. The man marched towards Jack and Iohan, his feet thundering with every step. Dredger seemed to be more like a giant than a man. All that Jack could think about what he was seeing was _Holy Shit! Who the hell is this guy?!_

Dredger stopped right in front of Jack looking down upon him from above for his massive height dwarfed Jack as well as everyone else gathered. Jack could hear Dredger's heavy breathing coming from the speakers in his face mask. Upon closer inspection, his mask appeared to be connected to his helmet, making them both one complete item that covered his entire head. "Mr. Lawrence, this is Dredger. Dredger, this is Lawrence," said Iohan introducing the two to each other for dramatic effect.

"Lawrence," said Dredger in a very low and deep voice that emanated from his speaker.

All that escaped from Jack's mouth was a gulp and a high pitched "H-Hi", that he said in complete fear of the situation. And with a mighty grasp, Dredger grabbed Jack by his duster with one of his massive hands and hoisted him up high into the air until he and Jack were at eye level. Now Jack was even more scared than he was previously. So much that if he wasn't so terrified he would admit that he was on the verge of pissing his pants.

"Dredger, please remove the good Yankee of his helmet and hand it over to me," kindly ordered Iohan. Dredger complied with that order, and with his free hand he gently took off Jack's American M1 helmet and dropped it into Iohan's hands, while still clutching Jack in the air with his other hand. Iohan flipped the helmet over and reached inside before pulling out what appeared to be a small photo hidden in between the actual helmet and the padding. He then walked over to Squad 7, photo in hand and explained "One thing that I remember from his file, is that Mr. Lawrence here always keeps photos and letters of his friends and family close by. Now look at this, and tell me if you recognize who the people in this photo are?"

He showed the photo to Welkin along with Alicia, Largo, Rosie, and Isara. They studied the photo for a few moments and their eyes opened in shock by who was in it. The photo was in color, something very rare in modern day photography. It showed three people, two young men and a young woman, standing side by side in winter clothes and what appeared to be New Berlin during the winter. They realized this because in the background was the Brandenburg Gate, a landmark site in the Nazi capital, and the ground all around them was just covered in snow. Jack was in the middle of the photo, his arms wrapped around the two people beside him. The woman on his right had red hair and aqua blue eyes. Nobody knew quite exactly who she was, but they did know who the man on the left was. Standing their with his seeming elaborate clothing, with black raven hair and purple eyes, was none other than the feared Black Prince of Germania, Lelouch vi Britannia. And the date of the photo showed that this was taken on December 31st, 1934. This was several months before the war even began.

"But wait...that's...that's," muttered Welkin, in complete shock by this revelation. Jack, the man who always spoke out to him how he hated the Nazis, was friends with one of the Reich's Princes, and a prominent one at that. It just didn't seem real.

"Yup it is. This right here is Lelouch vi Britannia, the Eleventh Prince of Germania, and the close childhood friend of your pal Jack. They meet years ago, and have remained close ever since," said Iohan, putting the photo back into the helmet and tossing it over to Dredger who in turn placed the helmet back upon Jack's head. Without saying another word, Iohan snapped his fingers. Suddenly Dredger slammed Jack upon the ground, pinning him with his metal boot with enough pressure to keep him there but not enough to seriously hurt him. Jack tried to escape from his grasp, but all attempts were futile as Dredger was just too strong. Suddenly, Jack remembered when he did the same thing to Hubert when he was being lazy. _Now I know how he felt, _Jack thought as he still continued to escape.

"And that makes what's about to happen all the more harder. I'm sorry that I have to do this, you seem like a decent guy. But you cooperated with the Reich's most wanted enemy and that alone is the penalty for death back in Germania. Oh but don't worry about you're friend. I'll have Byzantium explain what happened," explained Iohan with a somber look on his face as he pulled back out his Lahti pistol and cocked the bolt back. Jack's eyes widened in horror as he realized what the man was about to do next. And as Iohan aimed the muzzle of the pistol at his head, all that Jack could think was _So this is it? I'm going to die like this? Surrounded by Nazis, squadmates, and former friends. Looks like all my luck has finally run out_.

* * *

**Surprise! Jack's major secret has been revealed! What do ya think? Did I surprise you? If I did then my mission has been accomplished. Only a few people knew what I was truly planning. If I do disclose their screen names is entirely up to them. But if you have any questions of comments about this chapter and the secret revealed, send me a PM about it. And don't forget to review and check out my VC forum.**

**P.S. The people in the photo the Iohan picks out of Jack's helmet is from left to right: Lelouch, Jack, and Kallen.**

**P.S.S The helmet and face mask Dredger uses makes him look like a Helghast soldier from Killzone.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	25. Byzantium and Hrist Arrive

**Alert! New character introduced! Just to let you know. Enjoy the chapter!**

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

Jack, pinned beneath the iron foot of the giant Dredger, could do noting put look at Iohan as he pointed the Lahti pistol at Jack's head. Every moment that passed by was like a lifetime for Jack as he waited for Iohan to simply pull the trigger and kill him with a single, clean shot. But as time went on, Jack could only wonder why he hadn't fired yet. _Is he waiting for something?_ he thought as he tried to figure out what was stopping Iohan.

But just as it seemed like Iohan was about to fire, a buzzing sound seemed to fill the air all around them. Iohan, the _SS_, and all of Squad 7 seemed to look all around to see where in the world that sound was coming from. It became clear to all of them soon enough that the sound was coming from directly above them. All looked up to see four small black figures, fighter planes most likely, come out of a cloud and appear to be heading straight for them. However, what wasn't clear to them was who on earth these fighters belonged to, the Gallian Royal Air Corps or the German _Luftwaffe_. As the planes drew closer, they could make out the blue colored patterns of the planes as well as the model, they were P-40 Warhawks, an American plane being supplied to the GRAC.

The _SS_ soldiers faces began to show looks of panic and worry for they had not expected to encounter any Gallian planes at all. And now that they were, they were wishing that they had not come along on this mission. Suddenly, the four Warhawks opened fire on the _SS_ soldiers with the six .50 caliber machine guns placed within their wings. The bullets struck the ground and sent up plumes of dirt and dust for where the bullets struck. They areas where the bullets struck caused many of Iohan's _SS_ troops to be killed in the initial run before the Warhawks flew directly overhead and turned around for another gun run at the Nazis.

Iohan's troops panicked and fled with fear in their eyes for the forest, not wanting to be next in the P-40's sights. They fled in such a hurry that they dropped their weapons as they ran, leaving all of Squad 7 completely unguarded as they cowered for their lives. Seeing the opportunity presented before them, they soon quickly picked up their weapons and began firing upon any of the Nazis that were still present among them. In a matter of second's, Iohan had lost all the advantages he had earlier possessed. He and his men had no real firepower to tackle on enemy airplanes. There was no real way he could complete this mission anymore. He would have to retreat, along with what was left of his cowardly men that were still breathing and could hold a gun. With a a clear shout of his voice, he ordered "Don't just stand there you fools! Fall back! Make for the forest! We must get back to our lines!"

His remaining men heeded his words and broke ranks, scrambling for the safety of the forest canopies with Iohan following behind along with Dredger, who had taken his massive foot off of Jack and marched with them. As they ran, a few more of their black clad comrades were cut down by Squad 7's fire. This continued until the remaining _SS_ soldiers disappeared into the shrubbery and tree lines of the vast forest. The ground all around Squad 7 was littered with shell casings, bullet-riddled corpses, and patches of dirt where the Warhawks fired upon.

"Well. I think it's safe to say he won't be following us for a while," pointed out Largo, taking a cigarette out of his pocket.

"Yeah, for the 'Nazi's elite' they sure can run fast when they're scared shitless," joked Rosie, remarking their situation.

"Thankfully those pilots appeared. Otherwise the outcome would have been less fortunate," noted Lucina, looking to see that those fighters were still overhead. As soon as she said that, everyone looked up to see that same thing. To some, they were glad that these pilots arrived at the last moment, but others such as Welkin and Alicia wondered how they just happened to do that. Just when it seemed that Iohan was about to kill Jack, those planes, and their pilots just suddenly appeared and drove back the Germans. What was the reason for this sudden reversal of fortunes?

It was at that moment they could hear the radio on one of their hidden vehicles not far away begin to crackle to life. Someone was trying to contact them, likely one of the pilots who had just saved them. Everyone made their way over to the vehicles and removed the foliage they had used to cover them bit by bit, unveiling their trucks along with the _Edelweiss_. They discovered the radio making that noise was coming from one of their trucks. Welkin reached for the speaker and turned the dial until he believed that he had gotten the right frequency. He then put the speaker near his mouth and calmly spoke "This is Lieutenant Welkin Gunther. Commander of the Gallian Militia's Squad 7 of the 3rd Regiment. Who is this?"

There was a few brief moments of silence before a female voice came through from the crackle of the static responding back "Ho there Lieutenant. I'm Lieutenant Annika, call sign 'Halo', fighter pilot for the 588th Night Witches squadron in the GRAC. Got a call from my superiors that you didn't check in so they sent us in to find you. You're lucky we were nearby when we got that call."

Almost instantly Welkin remembered how earlier the man from GRAC Command had said something similar except that he said that there were no other forces near Mullow besides his squad that were in any position to rescue Lucina. So how is it that these pilots managed to arrive here in the nick of time? Wanting to know the answer, Welkin asked "The man at the GRAC Command said the exact opposite of what you're telling me."

"Well...my fellow pilots and I don't exactly answer to GRAC Command. You can consider us an somewhat independent squadron, though we do take missions from them. We were just finishing a mission when we got the call to find you. We'll cover you as you make you're way back to Amaranthine. Consider us your eye in the shy from now till then," explained Annika as clearly as she could.

"Alright then. Thanks for the assist, keep looking out for us," responded Welkin, grateful for their assistance in the fight before hanging up the radio.

He then turned to the rest of Squad 7 and the Archanean rebels and announced "Alright then. We have our window to clear out. Our new friends will cover us as we make our way back to base. Let's get moving before the _SS_ regroups and returns."

"Alright then, but first," said Alicia before turning to Jack and asking "Was what Iohan saying about you true?"

Almost instantly, all eyes turned upon Jack for the second time today. With the first instance being him revealing his connection to Lucina, now he had to explain the truth once more to them. Even though he was initially reluctant when revealing his friendship with Lucina, he nonetheless explained it because he knew there would be no consequences for that. This other secret, which Iohan Comescu laid out to them was something entirely different. This was the kind of thing he never told anyone due to how sensitive it was. If the wrong person heard it then they could take it the opposite way that Jack would want them to take it. He then began seriously weighing his options in his head. _I could run. No I'd never make it that far. Lie to them? No, that won't work, _he thought as he went through everything he could possibly think of.

Ultimately that choice was postponed when Largo spoke up and suggested "Maybe he can explain it after we high tail out of here? I'd like to be as far away from that Comescu guy as soon as possible thank you."

"I'm with Largo on this. Escape now, listen later," supported Rosie, equally eager to get moving as well.

"Alright then. Let's move then. But remember Jack, we're going to discuss this when we get back," said Welkin in a more serious tone that he rarely used. Jack could only gulp at what he had just heard.

* * *

Iohan and Dredger soon regrouped with the remainder of their forces who were now gathered at the outskirts of the forest on the German side of the front. He stormed towards them fuming at what had just happened recently. He had the girl right there and in his control. He could have brought her back cross their lines and back to Byzantium or finish her there with a simple bullet to the head. But instead a bunch of Gallian planes wiped out a bunch of his men and caused to flee like headless chickens. And now he can't try to go after her again because those planes will simply wipe them out if they get too close. And they would be too far behind Gallian lines for them to safely return back. The mission was over, Iohan had failed to capture Lucina. And now he had to explain this to his superiors. The ones who didn't take kindly with their subordinates failing them.

"Sir, what do we do now? Should we go back after them?" asked one of his soldiers, curious as to their next move.

"No. We won't catch up with them. We make back for Ghirlandaio, our job here is over," growled Iohan, clenching his teeth.

Another one of his soldier came up with a radio on his back and mentioned "Sir General Bles is demanding a report on the capture? Should I tell her they got away or not?"

All he got in return was a menacing glare from Comescu that sent shivers down his spine. Before he could say another word, with a quick movement Iohan pulled out his Lahti pistol and fired a single round into the unfortunate Nazi's head at point blank range. Blood, skull and brain matter sprayed out behind him as the bullet exited. The soldier stumbled for quick second before finally succumbing to his wound and collapsing upon the ground as dead as a door nail, blood pouring out of the entrance and exit wound.

"Find me a new radioman," ordered Comescu as he placed the pistol back into his holster.

* * *

_Ghirlandaio Fortress near the Gallian-Germanian border_

_1500 hours (3:00 pm)_

The fortress of Ghirlandaio, once thought impregnable, now flew the Nazi flag as it served as the headquarters for the commanders of the German invasion force. The fortress was built into a mountain pass located in the northeast corner of Gallia. The fortress itself sat directly upon the border of the two nations, with The Principality of Gallia on it's western side and the Imperial Germanian Reich on it's eastern side. The fortress consisted of two tall, thick, and strong stone and steel walls that ran from one side of the mountain pass to the other. In between the walls was a large and open courtyard with several buildings, vehicle hangers and entrances to portions of the fortress that ran into the mountains and into bunkers that ran underground, deep below the fortress itself. But it's most striking feature were the three large circular stone and steel towers that stood high above the fortress walls, almost as if they were reaching for the sky.

The fortress had been constantly upgraded, refitted, and modernized as the centuries passed on. But it was not enough to keep the fortress from falling to the Germans during the opening hours of the war. Within hours of the German assault of Brulh which started the conflict, the Nazi forces under the command of Maximilian's Valkyria Knight, General Selvaria Bles had seized the fortress nearly completely intact and made it their main base of operations for their invasion.

When the Germans took control of the fortress they made certain changes to it's defenses. They placed all the cannon pointed towards the German side and switched them to face any enemy approaching from Gallia. Replaced some of their outdated AA guns with more modern and improved German ones as well as establishing a complex series of fortified trenches right outside the walls complete with MG42's, anti-tank cannons, mines, barbed wire, and so much more. They made sure about leaving a path clear in the middle of the trenches for their forces coming through Ghirlandaio to pass.

Though far from the front lines, the German garrison of over six thousand strong stood ever vigilant for any threat. And even though it was sunny everywhere else in Gallia, up where they were in the mountains it rained almost constantly like it did today. The Germans simply shrugged it off as they stood at their posts, guarding the fortress. For in this fortress resided the top commanders of the German invasion force. In the center tower, which stood higher than the two flanking it, these same commander were having a strategy meeting in the command room which took up the entire top floor.

The command room was a large and circular room with large windows that ran almost all around the room, showing the dark and bleak mountainous terrain that surrounded them. In the center of the room was a large, rectangular wooden table with about a dozen chairs on each of the longer sides with one chair each at the shorter ends. Draped all over the table were various maps of Europa, Gallia, Germania, and other places marked with the current positions of both German and Gallian divisions. A large wooden door lay on one end of the room which opened to a spiral staircase leading to the lower levels and a large wooden desk sat on the opposite end of the room with Germanian flag draped directly behind the man who sat in the desk: Prince Maximilian himself.

His fellow commanders of the Triumvirate were situated around the table. Selvaria, who had been placed as the commander of the Central Front, sat in the chair closest to Maximilian as she gazed upon various maps given to her by her second-in-command Captain Johann Oswald Eisen, who stood directly behind her. He was a young German officer, and at twenty-three years old was older than Selvaria by one year. He had short blond hair, blue eyes, and wore the standard officers uniform. Before he was a Captain he served as a Corporal under Bles during the initial siege of Ghirlandaio where the German Army conquered the fortress. There his leadership skills and brave actions earned him recognition from High Command. He was awarded with an Iron Cross for his actions, promoted to Captain, and was given the position of being General Selvaria's executive officer. A job which he took very seriously. Over time, he and Selvaria developed a budding friendship and mutual respect for each other, with Selvaria counting on Johann with many matters, and was never too far from her side. With luck, the young man would go far in the _Wehrmacht_.

Another member of the Triumvirate present was General Rudi Jaeger, the commander of the Southern Front of the invasion. He was sitting in his chair with his feet on the table and his arms folded behind the back of his head. A man of the age of thirty-six, he hails from the Germanian province of Finland, a nation conquered by Germania during the Great War. He is a man in excellent physical condition, tanned skin, brown eyes and long brown hair that is tied in a ponytail. His uniform is different than those of other German Generals. His overcoat is unbuttoned and colored a shade of brown than the normal field grey. His right arm is covered in an armored gauntlet with his shoulder covered by a bull skull. Underneath his overcoat he also wears a steal breast plate and carries a sort of Finnish broadsword strapped to his belt. Jaeger used to be a tank commander in the Finnish army during the Great War, winning victories against the Reich. But when Finland fell to the Reich he was taken prisoner among the rest of the Finnish Army. He was then circulated among the other prisoners to be placed into the German Army that occupied Finland as it's newest province. During his time there, Maximilian found Jaeger and thought his skill as a leader was quite useful, so he made a deal with him that led to Jaeger's admittance into the Drei Stern. What that deal was is a mystery, but it seems it was enough to gain Jaeger's loyalty to Maximilian. Jaeger tends to be a bit of a joker who puts an emphasis on chivalry in battle and utterly respects those who do the same.

The third and final member of the Triumvirate was General Berthold Gregor, who commands the Northern Front and was now currently meticulously pacing back and forth along side the opposite end of the table where Selvaria, Johann, and Jaeger were. A fifty-one year old General with brown eyes and his blond hair in a military haircut, he has given his entire life in service to the Reich. He is the typical German General: stern, disciplined, and utterly ruthless. Gregor's uniform is the same as typical German Generals with the exception of his having a red and black cape as well as golden epaulets signifying his noble birth. In addition he is never seen walking without a gold adorned, black ivory walking stick that he carries with him at all times. Gregor comes from one of the oldest noble families in Germania, which has close ties to the Royal Family as well as an estate within the German capital of New Berlin. Gregor was the commander of Germania's invasion of Finland, and was responsible for ruthlessly crushing the Finns by overwhelming force. However he sustained a leg injury from none other than Radi Jaeger, hence the walking stick he now uses. Gregor is one of the fanatics who wholeheartedly believes in the supremacy of Germania and the Nazi Regime. He believes that the will of Germania's rulers is the same as his own, an believes that any country that any nation that does not bend their will to Germania has no real right to exist. This has caused him to carry out terrible atrocities to both foreigners and the Darcsens, with whom he has an equal distaste.

They were all called to discuss about Germania's defeat at Vasel, where their forces were driven out of the city by the Gallian Militia earlier today. And to add to that, they also had to discuss the event where Lieutenant Iohan Comescu, who had failed to capture the False Royal Lucina and allow her to slip to the safety of the Gallian lines.

"I have to admit, I am surprised that the Gallians managed to take Vasel back. They must have some good fighters in their ranks if they managed to beat the German _Wehrmacht_," admitted Jaeger.

"Nonsense, this is nothing more than a fluke. Our enemy is nothing more than the lowly Militia. They're filled with nothing more than worthless peasants. Peasants and barbarians," noted Gregor who completely disagreed.

"If that's so than how did a bunch of peasants beat a veteran Infantry Division that had Panzer support? From what I heard, they crossed the river in a tank and caught the garrison by surprise. Whomever leads them is no fool" countered Jaeger, pointing out what Gregor was clearly missing.

"Agreed. That tactic was most unusual as well as clever. Whoever came up with that strategy certainly didn't come from the Gallian's High Command," added Selvaria.

"Oh, please. That was nothing special. Any layman could have come up with that," said Gregor. He stopped pacing, looked to the Germanian Flag and muttered "This setback itself is a stain upon the Royal Family's honor. Our Kaiser's traitorous blood relative will soon lean the price for defy him."

"And if all we needed to win wars was birthright alone that fantasy of yours would be possible," joked Jaegor who in turn received a menacing glare and growl from Gregor.

Selvaria then stood up from her seat and announced "This setback however small, has the potential to turn this war around. The Gallians will likely use this to stage a counteroffensive on the Central Front. And an alliance between Gallia and the ALF would likely cause our supply lines and rear guard forces to suffer the brunt of that."

"The Archanean Liberation Front. Hmph. Nothing more than a bunch of pitiful fighters who dare to oppose the Reich and follow the princess of a long dead country. They will be dealt with in time," pointed out Gregor.

"Well, it's been almost twenty years. We must be very patient," joked Jaeger yet again.

Maximilian soon stood up from his desk and walked over to the table with the other Generals. "Either way, we must formulate a strategy. The Gallians will soon take advantage of this victory. And we are pass the deadline my brother set for us. Let's see what we can do for now." Maximilian soon pulled out one of the maps and began pointing out what was needed to be done.

* * *

Outside the fortress wall that faced Germania, a black German staff car with an enclosed roof drove towards the gate in the pouring rain, stopping just short of the gate. One of the guards positioned by the gate walked towards the driver's side window which had rolled down to reveal his face. "Open the gates. I've got two people who wish to speak with Prince Maximilian without delay," informed the driver.

"Prince Maximilian is in a strategy meeting and has given strict instructions not to be disturbed. And I'd like to not get on his bad side by disobeying those orders," responded the guard.

"I think you'll not want to get on their bad side if you don't let them in and bring them before Maximilian," countered the driver, pointing to the two mysterious passenger's behind him. The guard moved slightly forward to the passenger window which was beginning to roll down. Once the window was lowered enough the guard took a quick look at the passenger's. His eyes widened upon realizing who they were, causing him to straighten his posture and give a Nazi salute before shouting "_Heil!_"

The guard then looked to the top of the wall to the soldier who operated the controls for the gate and yelled at the top of his lungs "Open the gates. And find someone to bring these two up to see Maximilian with all haste. Now!"

* * *

"Then it is settled. Jaeger will head to the Ardennes forest and protect the supply bases established there. We will need them for our forces in the Central Front. Gregor will establish a command center in Fouzen and head our counter-insurgency operations when he return here. Selvaria will continue to lead the Central Front with Captain Johann's assistance. I am planning an expedition to the Barious Desert. Once it is ready I'd like for Selvaria to accompany me. We shall crush Gallia once and for all. And without any further delays this time. My brother will be watching us closely from now on," summarized Maximilian, laying out their new plan to conquer Gallia.

All of his subordinates responded with "Yes, my lord!"

After she said that, Selvaria's expression turned to one of surprise and worry. Maximilian noticed that and asked her "Selvaria, what is it?"

She answered bluntly "Someone's coming, I...I can feel it."

As soon as she said it, they all heard a knock on the door that leads to the staircase. The door opened wide and a German soldier walked into the room and stood at attention quite nervously. Wondering why he was here, Maximilian asked "Is there a reason why you are interrupting this meeting?"

"Um, your Highness. There are two people who wish to see you immediately," muttered the German soldier.

"I do not care! I specifically said that I did not wish for anyone to disturb this meeting! Send them away!" ordered Maximilian, gesturing with his hand for the soldier to simply shoo these guests away.

The soldier simply tugged at his collar before admitting "Um, I can't exactly do that."

"And why is that?" growled Maximilian, growing quite impatient with the answer.

"Because he has no choice but to obey the orders of those who have higher authority than you brother," came the booming voice of Byzantium as he entered the room along with a woman. Byzantium was dressed in the same bulletproof steel armor he wore during his years as the Inquisitor, or head of the German Intelligence Agency known as the _Inquisition_, which he still wore throughout the years after his ascendance to the role of Kaiser. His helmet was steel with the a dragon's head placed in the center of where his forehead, and it's spine running across the top of his helmet with several small spikes and the back being elongated slightly. The cheek guards that covered most of his face were molded to resemble the dragon's wings. The breast plate he wore over his underclothing covered his chest and midsection. On the center was the engraved symbol of the Inquisitor, an eye with a sword running through it pointed downwards. His shoulder guards held the same symbol as well. Other armor he wore covered his elbows, lower arms and arms, knees, shins, and boots. He also wore an old styled leather belt and straps under his armor that held him in place, as well as a black cloak and an elaborate broadsword placed within it's sheath and strapped to his belt.

The woman who came in with Byzantium was his wife of eighteen years, Hrist zi Britannia, the 99th Empress of the Imperial Germanian Reich. She was the same age as Byzantium, but was blessed with good genes that made her appear as a woman ten years younger. She had a flawless complexion, a slim build, raven black hair that was waist length, as well as ruby red eyes. Her entire upper body, waist up was covered in dark purple colored armor with golden trimmings. She had a chest plate that covered her entire front and back from her waist to her neck, and at the base of her neck was a mysterious red colored jewel. She also wore two large shoulder guards with each one covering her entire shoulders. She also had armor covering both her upper and lower arms as well as ones for her hands that acted as finger less gloves. She also wore knee high armored boots and a helmet which allowed her hair to flow freely and reveal more of her face than Byzantium's. Her helmet also had black feathers that were placed upon the sides of her helmet and pointed towards the back of her helmet. To top it all off she wore an elegant off white battle skirt that stretched down to her knees and was decorated with an elaborate gold design as well as golden feather shaped charms that hanged from the bottom all around her. And finally she had strapped to her a double handled sword that looked very powerful as well as a black cloak similar to Byzantium's. All of this made up the Nazi Empire's current Kaiserina.

_"Hrist zi Britannia, Byzantium's young and beautiful wife as well as Germania's Kaiserina. One of the few woman in the world who had the ability to scare the crap out of me just by standing close. She may appear young and beautiful to any man, but do not let that fool you. She is just as evil and deadly as her husband. There is almost nothing known about her past. No birth certificate, records, nothing. She just suddenly appeared out of nowhere when at seventeen Byzantium announced that she was to be his wife, which she became less than a month later. And when Byzantium ascended to the throne as Germania's Kaiser, she stood beside him as his Empress. She is just like Byzantium, with her presence enough to fill the room. It was also rumored that she was descended from one of the oldest and most respected of Valkyrian bloodlines, though I did not know if that was actually true or just propaganda that Goebbels cooked up. But what I did know was this: the two of them would play a key role in the deciding moments of the Gallian-Germanian War, and it all started when they walked into that meeting." - Jack Lawrence_

At the sight of the Reich's Kaiser and Kaiserina within the room, all of the Drei Stern got on one knee, crossed an arm across their chest and bowed their heads in respect for them. Only were they released from that position when Byzantium ordered them to rise back up. Byzantium soon walked up to Maximilian, pushing alongside Selvaria as he slowly paced towards him. "Tell me brother, are you going deaf?" asked Byzantium.

"I beg your pardon?" questioned Maximilian, wondering where he was going.

"Because when I said I wanted Gallia conquered within a month and no latter, I'm getting the impression that I wasn't clear enough with you," clarified Byzantium but with a more stern and serious tone.

"Well you see-" said Maximilian trying to explain but was cut off by Byzantium who continued to walk towards him with anger in his eyes, causing Maximilian to back up towards the desk.

"WITHIN. A. MONTH. I said. Not a day latter nor a month, and yet here we are. The deadline is over, and the war is still going on. Would you care to explain to me why?" ordered Byzantium, stopping his march just short after Maximilian was cornered at the desk. Maximilian was too overcome with fear to answer, not knowing how to answer his question without pissing off his brother any further. Thankfully he was saved when Hrist spoke up.

"Darling, why don't you back up a little bit and allow him to answer?" said Hrist in a calm voice as walked towards the two. Her soothing voice seemed to have an effect on Byzantium as he managed to back up a few steps, giving Maximilian some room. Though Maximilian was quite glad that she had helped him, her presence here was still surprising to him. Most of the time he would never see her, as she often spent more time with her husband Byzantium as well as the other members of the Royal Family. It wasn't as if he didn't hate her, he just didn't think of her much.

"Why is it that you two are here?" asked Maximilian.

"What? Is it too much to ask that I wanted to see my brother-in-law and persuaded my handsome husband to stop by with me?" she answered in a kidding voice with a hint of sweetness. Seeing Maximilian's expression change very little, she dropped the act and became more serious.

"Very well. Byzantium and I were inspecting garrisons along the border when we heard of your little...'setback', so we decided to drop by and discuss the matter with you. Thankfully we weren't far from the airport in Strasbourg to catch a flight. It pays to be married to such a handsome and important man," she explained, stroking Byzantium's chin quite seductively, causing Byzantium to crack a smile.

"You seem to have a problem with the Gallian Militia I hear. I've also heard that the Militia commander responsible for your defeat managed to come up with a very clever plan to drive them out of both sides of Vasel. Am I correct _Hauptmann_?" asked Byzantium, looking towards Johann.

"Um well yes, we received reports that this Militia squad is a degree above the other ones we've encountered and that their commander is...unlike the rest of the Gallian officers your Imperial Majesty," answered Johann nervously, still in shock that the Kaiser and Kaiserina of Germania were in the same room as him.

"Exactly, and that makes him a danger to our forces should he continue to fight them. And that is why he must be eliminated. If he can pull off a small victory such as this within a day, there's no telling what he can do for a major battle," added Hrist.

"We shall do as you wish Kaiserina, as soon as we finalize our plans for our capture of Randgriz we-" stated Gregor but before he could finish Byzantium raised his hand to him signalling for him to stop which he did.

"No, you will not take Randgriz nor deal with this officer. I have something else in mind for that. Your forces will continue their assaults, but I am bringing you reinforcements as well as a new commander who will be giving the honor of taking the city," corrected Byzantium, making his point very clear.

"You do not need to do that brother we-" started Maximilian before being cut off by Hrist.

"YOU, can't seem to do your job, so we will bring in someone who CAN. The decision is final, no exceptions," explained Hrist even further. Sensing that there was no way he was going to win this conversation, Maximilian simple sighed and lowered his head in defeat, hoping that it would be the end of this conversation. Unfortunately his hopes were dashed rather quickly.

"Oh, I almost forgot something. There is also the matter of you losing the ALF leader correct?" mentioned Byzantium. Once again Maximilian and his staff were being reminded of one of their more recent failures. When Byzantium sent Iohan to them, he gave them orders to assist him in his pursuit of Lucina. And word of his failure quickly reached his ears. And although it was Iohan's fault that she escaped, the fact that he was under their command meant that his failure was theirs as well.

"To be fair your Majesty, Lieutenant Comescu did do his very best to capture her," noted Jaeger in the young man's defense.

"But it is the man's fault and his alone. We should have given the job to a _German_ officer and not that Darcsen filth Comescu," stated Gregor in disgust.

Byzantium turned to him and reminded Gregor "It was my decision to place young Comescu in the _SS_, as was my decision to have him the new head of our counter-insurgency operations. Are you saying that my judgement was in error General Gregor?"

Almost instantly, Gregor realized that he had just insulted Byzantium's judgement and by extension, Byzantium himself. He quickly bowed his head and apologized to him "I humbly beg forgiveness Sire, I was out of line."

Byzantium merely smiled before giving a nod of approval. If there was one thing that Byzantium could count on with Gregor was his unwavering support for their cause and his loyalty to him and Hrist. This made Gregor a very useful pawn in the pairs plans. He wanted to wrap up this conversation quickly so he spoke up and finished the conversation with "Now this new commander will be arriving tonight by train into the town of Ghirlandaio just outside the mountains along with the rest of the reinforcements. You will prepare the town for his arrival. I want all the information you can find with this Gallian officer and have it ready for him when he arrives. And that is final Maximilian. Me and Hrist will remain here for now. Have some of your men prepare appropriate living quarters for us."

Maximilian nodded and looked towards the soldier by the door, ordering "Do as your Kaiser commands. Prepare living quarters for them." The young soldier gave a quick salute as he led Byzantium and Hrist out of the room, closing the door as they left.

Once the door was shut, Johann leaned over to Selvaria and asked "Does the Kaiser always seem that bloody angry?"

"Both on his good days and his bad days" answered Selvaria truthfully.

"Then was that his 'good day angry' or his 'bad day angry'," he inquired.

* * *

As Byzantium and Hrist were led through the hallways by the German soldier, Hrist leaned towards Byzantium and asked "Do you suppose that Maximillian will listen to us?"

"He'll have to. This invasion was his idea. He'll want to keep us happy in order to keep our support for it," he answered truthfully.

"I still question allowing this in the first place, there isn't much in Gallia for us," admitted Hrist in disdain.

"True, but there is a very rich score of Ragnite here. And it's strategic position along the English Channel will help us in a future invasion of England. Plus it helps serve as a distraction for our enemies. It will keep their focus there while we continue with our plans. So stop fretting my love, everything will be taken care of," clarified Byzantium, looking into Hrist's eyes.

Hrist simply gives off a laugh as the soldier brings them to their room and leaves them. She then states to him as she wraps her arms around his neck "What a lovely and devious mind you have. I knew there was a reason why I married you." She then planted a kiss on Byzantium's lips before opening the door and seductively pulling him into their room before shutting the door.

* * *

German to English Translations

1._ Heil_ \- Hail

2\. _Hauptmann_ \- Captain

**New character is in. Hrist zi Britannia, wife of Byzantium and the 99th Kaiserina of the Imperial Germanian Reich. And yes Hrist is a female name, particularly in Norway I believe!**

** I brought her in from the video game franchise Valkyrie profile. The Valkyrur in this Valkyria Chronicles are based upon the Valkyrie of Norse mythology and Hrist is a character in the game that is also based on Norse mythology, so I felt it appropriate to put her in the story. You will see more of her in the story as it progresses.**

**But I do have one question for you to ponder. Just who is this mysterious commander that Byzantium is bringing into the front? **

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	26. Revelations and Commanders

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_General Damon's Office at Fort Amaranthine _

_1800 hours (6:00 pm)_

_"With a great amount of luck, we had managed to reach the safety of Fort Amaranthine. Once we had made sure that everyone and everything was accounted for, Welkin, Alicia, and I brought Lucina before General Damon and the rest of the Gallian High Command. To tell you the truth that was a meeting I did not look forward to attending at all. I've heard nothing but bad things about Gallia's Generals from the first moment I was brought into the Militia. They were all of noble birth, had no real military experience, and were nothing more than stuck up and selfish idiots who thought of the Militia as nothing more than cannon fodder for the Gallian Regulars. These were the kinds of people that disgusted me to my very core and put and awful taste in my mouth. However on the other hand I was hoping this meeting would take a long time so I could at least avoid explaining to the others about my exact relationship with Germania's 'Black Prince', Lelouch vi Britannia for at least a while longer. Right now, I was just hoping nobody in Squad 7 was stupid enough to go and blab about it while we were in here. That and hope that the Generals had enough sense as to take up whatever offer Lucina gave to them." -Jack Lawrence_

"A German rebel?" asked Damon in bewilderment. He had heard from GRAC Command that they were bringing in a VIP to see them. And he also heard that said VIP was being rescued by the Militia's Squad 7 whose officer's stood before him. He expected it to be some kind of spy that their American allies had embedded within the Reich, not a rebel who lead a resistance group against the Nazis.

"Not just any rebel General Damon, a rebel leader. This is Princess Lucina of the Archanean Liberation Front, the largest and most successful resistance group in Germania," explained Jack, pointing to Lucina who had taken a seat upon Damon's couch directly across from his, legs crossed. Damon's office was the largest and most elaborate one in the main building of Fort Amaranthine. It was both because of his aristocratic upbringing and his rank, though mostly the former. Just the size alone was almost three times that of Welkin's office or Captain Varrot's, and they were large already. The walls were adorned with tapestries, paintings, mounted animal heads, along with a Gallia's flag which was draped behind Damon's large desk. There was a large and colorful rug between the two couches along with a large map of Gallia placed onto a large wooden table not far from them. Damon also had a cabinet which held several bottles of wine, champagne, and other beverages along with glasses for Damon and several others to drink. Lucina held one of those glasses in her hand as she took a sip of her wine, an excellent bottle of Fouzen 1889 red wine.

"A Princess huh?" questioned Damon, the word catching his attention.

"She's the last living descendant of Anri and the rightful ruler of Germania itself," explained Jack as clear as he could so that Damon could fully understand exactly who Lucina is.

Damon gave out a light chuckle before saying coldly "So, I have the Princess of Archanea who's also a resistance leader in my presence? How should this impress me?"

After taking another sip from her glass, Lucina explained to him plainly "Because General as the leader of the Archanean Liberation Front, I have a proposition for you."

"What makes you think I'd ever work with some fallen royal who leads an army of armed peasants? Even if you are a princess, why should your offer interest me? The Gallian Regulars have no use for some run-of-the-mill thugs," stated Damon, now pouring himself a glass of wine with the same bottle Lucina was drinking.

Lucina expected Damon to say something like that. She had heard about him and knew what he was like. A greedy, glory seeking, incompetent, and cowardly Gallian officer who didn't deserve his rank nor be an officer within the military for that matter at all. Luckily for her she had some experience in dealing with men like him and came up with a very good way to lay out her case that will cause Damon to accept her offer without any hesitation.

"Well General, let me say this. What's the one thing that separates your men from mine when it comes to fighting the Reich? Experience. My men have been fighting the Nazis since 1918 when my grandfather first founded the movement. I know how the Germans fight, their strategies, their strengths, and their weaknesses. With the current state of the war, I imagine that information like that will prove very useful for you?" she inquired, leaning on his need to quickly turn the tide of the war around into Gallia's favor.

Damon stroked his beard as he thought it over in his head. It was true that Gallia was on the verge of losing this war, and the Gallian Generals reputation, his included, was going down the drain for their losses and long retreats. The Gallian victory at Vasel had given the people more hope. But the fact that the Militia were the ones who won the battle instead of his Regular's infuriated him. He had to win some more victories and soon if he was going to get back in the spotlight that he truly felt he deserved and not the lowly Militia. Lucina's information could prove very helpful to him and the other General's, giving them a slight edge against the German _Wehrmacht_. This was an opportunity he just couldn't pass up, but first he had to make sure that she was telling the truth about this and not just pulling his strings first.

"Are you serious?" inquired Damon.

Lucina nodded her head before replying "Quite so. However I have some conditions."

The word 'conditions' caught Damon off guard. He couldn't believe that this woman, this...person would dare say that she had terms with him. _Why can't she just let me accept her offer and be done with it, _Damon thought.

"I will continue to offer this alliance between us, if you allow my men to fight," she stated. Upon hearing her say that, Damon let out a loud burst of laughter. He couldn't believe what she was demanding. It all just seemed to funny to him.

"Why in the world should I allow a bunch of pathetic fighters like you be a part of this war anyway?" questioned Damon, still laughing his ass off but ultimately quieting down with time.

Once he had finished laughing, Lucina got right back to explaining her case "Because my men can fight. We're not on par with the _Wehrmacht_ but my troops have spirit and dedication. Plus, we can tie down the Germans down a bit. My men can attack them on a second front. Bomb military positions, hit and run attacks, snipers, assassinations that kind of thing. The Germans will have to pull troops from the front in order to combat _us_. That should help relieve some pressure on the front for you. That should be another point in my favor, right?"

"Hmm," mumbled Damon as he thought over her over more carefully. It is true that the Gallian forces were outnumbered three to one on the front lines. If her rebels could cause enough damage, the Nazis would be inclined to have some of their front line troops be pulled to the rear in order to better defend their positions and seek out the rebels, wasting vital German resources that could have been put to use annihilating the Gallian forces. With the front lined weakened, this would allow the Gallian forces to acquire much needed breathing room and make things easier for them during a battle. A slight smile cracked upon his face as the thought appeared in his head.

Lucina saw Damon smile and she instantly knew that she had gotten him hooked. She knew that he would refuse her offer flat if she didn't offer something for him. Men like Damon were all the same to her. Take away their glory they turn against you, but offer something that entices them, they will fall in line and agree to anything you say as long as they get what they want. In Damon's instance, it was German strategies, fighting tactics, and less enemy troops on the front. Combine all three of these together she had the recipe for Damon to have a much easier time to earn his supposed 'glory'. Now it was time for Lucina to finally close the deal with the final part of her offer. And only a complete and total idiot wouldn't accept it. Thankfully, for all of Damon's faults, and there were many of them, he wasn't that stupid.

"So here it is. My men will provide you Intel on developments behind enemy lines, sabotage their positions, and give you strategies on how to deal with German troops. In exchange, you allow my men to fight independent of your forces and provide us Intel on German positions to hit. Simple. Now do we have a deal?" she inquired to Damon, confident he'd say yes. And just like that, the words she was looking for came directly out of his mouth.

"Hmm. After thinking this through, it appears that we have an agreement," confirmed Damon.

"Than allow me to share with you some information I managed to gather before I arrived," suggested Lucina. She then placed down her glass and walked over to the table with the map with Damon following behind her. When she reached the table she pulled out the map and pointed towards a section of southeastern Gallia labeled 'Ardennes Forest'.

_"The Ardennes Forest. A large forest that made up most of the corner of southeastern Gallia. When the Germans invaded, one of their main paths was through the Ardennes. Gallia's Generals in their infinite wisdom believed that the forest was too thick for armored vehicles to pass through, so they put only infantry to defend the area, which was soon quickly overwhelmed and conquered. The Germans soon used the forest as a base of operations for them to send out large raiding parties that utterly terrorized the countryside and scarred the land. During my time at Randgriz University with Welkin, he and I took a few trips there as part of our studies. Welkin did it for his love of nature. I just did it to get away from school for a few days. At that moment I felt like for some strange reason we were going to hear where the next phase of the war would be." -Jack Lawrence._

"My men have discovered that the Germans have set up a large supply base deep within the forest. They are using it to supply their forces on the Central Front. If you take it out, the Germans will be crippled for a small amount of time, more than enough to strike back. I could have my men attack it, but unfortunately it's too well guarded for us to do anything. That's where you come in," she explained.

"You need actual soldiers to take out that base then? Very well, my Regulars will take down that base for good," claimed Damon, confident that he would triumph over the Reich.

"Um, not to interrupt, but what do we do in the meantime?" asked Jack, causing both Damon and Lucina to turn their attention towards them. In all of the discussing and negotiating between her and Damon, Lucina had completely forgotten that they were still in the room. To tell the truth she was so busy on the negotiations that she had forgotten about what their role would be in this matter. She could already imagine that Damon would probably just order them to stay away from the front so that they wouldn't get in his way or he would bring them along just to be human shields for his forces.

Thankfully she had beaten him to the punch and told them "For now I believe you all have earned some rest. We should depart now," she turns to Damon one last time and finishes with "Good night General," before leaving with the others through the door and exiting the office.

* * *

The rest of Squad 7 was in the vehicle hanger near the open metal gates while Jack, Lucina, Welkin, and Alicia went to General Damon's office an hour ago to help Lucina discuss the proposed alliance. Everyone was either engaged in small talk, playing a game of cards with Rosie and Largo, reading the local paper, or if you were Isara, doing maintenance work on the _Edelweiss. _It was all that they could do in order to pass the time until their friends returned.

Welkin, Alicia, Jack, and Lucina came into the hanger through the main door, eager to tell about how well their meeting had gone. There they had come across two young mechanics who had just finished working on one of the dozen Gallian light tanks in the hanger. They were both in blue mechanics overalls and wore a white colored scarf, both items of their clothing were dirtied from their work on the tank. One of them had short green hair, green eyes, and red glasses. The other one had short brown hair, red motorcycle goggles, and brown eyes. The two mechanics noticed the four entering and went to greet them.

The one with the brown hair spoke first, asking Welkin "Um, excuse me. But are you by any chance Lieutenant Gunther?"

"Yes, that's me," replied Welkin.

The young man's face soon lit up upon hearing the news. A huge smile appeared on his face and his eyes widened so much it looked like they were going to fall out of their sockets. Suddenly he started blurting out of his mouth "I knew it! I knew it! You're Lieutenant Gunther, the commander of Squad 7! The ones who took back the Great Vasel Bridge in a day! I heard you guys crossed the river in a tank! Lieutenant, you're my boy! You got my respect and then some! How did you-!"

Thankfully his little speech was silenced when his friend balled up a piece of cloth and shoved it in his mouth, effectively muffling the young man. It took him a few seconds to firmly grab the rolled up cloth and extract it from his mouth, allowing him to talk and breath once more.

"You'll have to excuse him for that Lieutenant, he's always like this. But where are my manners? I'm Kries Czherny, I'm training here as a mechanic," said Kries, giving Welkin a salute.

"Oh, oh, and I'm Leon Schmidt. But you can just call me Leon. We've been assigned to your squad as mechanics," stated Kries's friend, giving Welkin a salute as well.

Welkin simply returned their gesture. He then began setting out to introduce the others around him. "It's nice to meet you two. This is my second-in-command Sergeant Alicia Melchiott, my American Quartermaster Corporal Jack Lawrence, and this is our new ally Lucina," he said.

"Nice to meet you all. We've already introduced ourselves to the rest of the squad. They're glad to have some mechanics to keep their equipment in check," admitted Kries.

"Speaking of which, where is the rest of the squad?" wondered Alicia, the thought just appearing into her head.

"They're on the other side of the hanger with you're tank. And may I just say that your tank is amazing?! I've never seen anything like it!" answered Leon, almost jumping for joy after mentioning about the _Edelweiss_.

"Come on Leon, we've been working all day. Let's just head back to the barracks and get some sleep," suggested Kries, too tired from work to have his friend continue any longer.

Leon gave out a long yawn before replying "Yeah, now that you mention it I am pretty beat. See ya latter Lieutenant."

The two of them soon made way for the door that led out of the hanger and for the barracks to get some sleep for another day of work that they would no doubt have to do tomorrow. Welkin and the others soon continued on to reunite with Squad 7 who were still relaxing alongside the _Edelweiss_. They soon saw Rosie smack her cards down upon the table and announced gleefully as she grabbed her winnings from Montley and Knute "Ha! Read em' and weep kiddos! I win again."

"How do you keep winning?" asked Knute, dumbfounded by Rosie's seemingly endless luck.

"Before the war I worked at a bar in Ghirlandaio, the town I mean not the fort. I learned a few tricks from some of the Regulars who would stop on by for drinks," explained Rosie.

"Well that explains it. I still say that you cheated though," mentioned Montley.

"Well put that away Rosie, the others are back," announced Largo, pointing at Welkin, Jack, Alicia, and Lucina as they approached them. The others, hearing that announcement dropped everything they were doing and also turned their gaze back to their officers. Each of them were anxious to hear about the news of how the meeting went. They were hoping that it went well because an alliance between the ALF and Gallia would be very helpful to them and a pain in the ass for the Germans.

Isara, who had stopped working on the _Edelweiss_ and hopped back onto the ground was the first to speak, asking her brother "How did the meeting go Welks?"

"Well it took some convincing but Lucina managed to convince Damon to an alliance. ALF forces will soon be fighting with us in this war," answered Welkin truthfully. His announcement was welcomed by silent cheers and sighs of relief by the rest of Squad 7. It would have been hard enough for the Militia to fight the current amount of German troops on the front. But with the ALF causing havoc in the German's rear, the number of troops will be decreased a bit, not a lot, but enough to relieve some of the pressure on the Gallians.

"I guess this means we'll be seeing a lot of your boys from now on Princess," remarked Vyse.

"I suppose so. But really, I must be off," mentioned Lucina.

"You're going to smuggle yourself back to Germania? Let me guess: planning to assassinate a kraut General? No wait, rob the Royal Treasury?" joked Jack, who had taken a seat next to Rosie along with Alicia, wanting to join in on the card game.

Lucina gave off a slight chuckle at Jack's remark. She had to admit that she missed those little quips that he would give out here and there. And even though she still hated him deep inside, for some reason it was nice to see him again. She turned to Welkin, who stood beside her, and responded back with "No, I'm staying here. My men have set up shop not far from here at an abandoned church. It'll serve as my headquarters for our operations here in Gallia. You may come by any time if you need my assistance. My door will always be open for Squad 7. Think of it as repayment for saving my life and those of my men."

"You don't really have to thank us. We were just doing our jobs," assured Welkin, rubbing the back of his head.

"You're a humble man Gunther. There aren't many men like you left in the world. As are men who would willingly risk his life to help out a stranger," praised Lucina, giving off a smile at Welkin. On the way back to the Fort, Jack had filled her in on the Lieutenant. He told her about his qualities and quirks and she did admit that she found him interesting. For someone who was the son of the famed General Belgen Gunther, he had a most peculiar way of doing things. For some reason, Welkin just utterly intrigued her.

"I don't think of it like that Lucina," admitted Welkin.

Lucina was slightly taken aback by his comment. Curious as to what he meant, she asked him politely "Could you please elaborate on that? I didn't quite catch your meaning."

"When you look at nature, there are certain animals that work together in order to survive. To do so they learn to forgo their differences and help each other. I took that lesson and applied it to your situation. I chose to help others without asking for anything in return because that's who I am," explained Welkin, bringing up his vast knowledge of nature to use. There were a few awkward moments that passed by as everyone waited for Lucina's reaction to Welkin's little 'nature talk'. Suddenly, she started bursting out laughing, clutching her side as if it was hurting. Jack looked on at this and thought to himself _Well that's a first. I've never heard Lucina laugh like that before. I mean, she's chuckled before and giggled, but never a full blown laugh. I have no idea what was in there that was so funny to her_.

After a few more moments of hysterical laughter, Lucina calmed down and replied back to Welkin "Comparing people to nature. That's a first for me. You are a very strange man Gunther."

"I seem to get that a lot," admitted Welkin. What Lucina did next surprised even him. She leaned in closely and gave him a quick and subtle kiss on his cheek before retreating back, blushing slightly and with a small smile upon her face. Everyone else in the hanger were just as surprised as Welkin was, who's face was frozen in amazement as he was utterly dumbfounded over what had just happened. The young and beautiful Princess of Archanea just kissed him on the cheek. It wasn't as good as kissing a girl on the lips but it was still a very pleasant thing. A few of the men even whistled at the sight of that. A few of the girls giggled a bit, and Jack nudged Rosie in the arm with a look on his face that read _Not bad for nature boy huh? _

"I suppose I should be going. Until we meet again Lieutenant," said Lucina as she began walking back to the door that they came from. Once she had disappeared from view, Welkin turned to the rest of Squad 7, the same look still upon his face.

"Hey Welkin, I think that you're starting to catch up to Faldio on the amount of girls he won over," joked Jack, causing much of the squad to laugh at it.

That comment managed to break Welkin from his stoop and bring him back to reality. For the past few days Jack had been joking around with him about his personal life, first with Mary Read and now with the Princess Lucina. He was wondering when he would stop bringing up his relationships. _Wait, relationships. That reminds me of something,_ he remembered in his head. Welkin had almost forgotten to ask Jack about what Iohan Comescu, the _SS_ Lieutenant, mentioned to them at Mullow. With a now serious face, he looked to Jack and inquired to him "Oh, that reminds me. Why don't we have that little chat about your choice in friends shall we?"

The smile on Jack's face instantly faded away as Welkin's words sunk into his head. It appeared that the conversation that Welkin, along with the rest of Squad 7 were waiting for, and the conversation Jack had been dreading, was going to happen now. It appeared that he had bought all the time he could to delay it. And now Squad 7 was waiting upon information that Jack was completely reluctant to divulge. He instantly thought in his head different ways he could convince them to ignore this moment, but came up with absolutely nothing at all. He soon figured that there was no escaping this at all for he had run out of chances to escape from this altogether. So he mentally braced himself for what he was about to reveal to them. With a deep sigh, he spoke solemnly "This is going to come as a shock to you. I never wanted anyone outside my family along with my closest of friends to know this but...what Comescu said was true."

Almost everyone around him gasped upon hearing Jack admit to something like this. Despite knowing him for only a few days, they had always seen him as a typical American. Patriotic, kind, independent, handy with a rifle, and a man who despised Nazis. Hearing him tell them that he was friends with a Nazi Prince, and one of the most prominent ones no less, was a complete and utter surprise to them all. For Welkin, he didn't know what to think. Jack had always told how he openly despised the Nazi ideology and everything that was done under their regime. It was understandable since the United States and the Imperial Germanian Reich had been natural enemies since the founding of the United States in 1776. But Welkin would never have imagined that Jack would be friends with a member of the Royal Family who's country is perhaps one of the greatest threats to mankind. He suddenly remembered when Jack had told them that he and Lucina were not on speaking terms. _Maybe this is why she suddenly hated him, _he thought to himself. Welkin decided that it was in his as well as the squad's best interest that he interrogate Jack and he come clean with everything immediately.

But before he could saw anything, Jane and Hannes suddenly stomped over to Jack, grabbed him by his duster, and pinned him against one of the nearby tanks. They looked dead at Jack, seething hatred and anger with their eyes, and absolute horror within Jack's. He knew that these two were the ones in the squad who hated the Germans the most, and killed them with utter brutality and without mercy on the battlefield. In his mind Jack kept going over what scary things they were probably going to do to him now that they knew the truth.

"You bleeding bastard, you're one of them aren't you?!" shouted a very angry Jane, her grip on Jack getting tighter with each passing second.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I can explain!" screamed Jack, hastily trying to convince them out of hurting him.

Thankfully, he was saved from that fate when Welkin spoke up, telling them in a harsh and serious tone "Turner, Salinger! Put him down, right now!"

They hesitated for a few moments before realizing that they had agreed at Vasel to follow Welkin's orders from now on. So begrudgingly, they released their hold on Jack and took a few steps back. Welkin then turned his gaze to Jack and explained to him sternly "Okay now Jack. I want to know the truth this time, and not a bunch of sentences you throw out here and there in an attempt to change the subject. And I mean it this time."

Jack heaved a heft sigh as he braced himself for what he was about to reveal. Without a moment to lose he explained to them "Okay, well here's the full story. When I was six years old, I went with my parents on a diplomatic visit to the Reich. It was my first time leaving the U.S. and seeing Europe so I was pretty excited. But on the other hand I was pretty nervous as well. Even as a kid I heard all about the things the Nazis did. When we arrived in New Berlin we headed into the biggest building in the city which coincidentally was the Imperial Palace. While my father ended up talking with Kaiser Charles, I sort of wandered around the palace with my mother. We eventually came upon Kaiserina Marianne in the gardens with her son Lelouch. My mother introduced herself and me to them, though I was still scared to say anything to them. But eventually I ended up speaking to them. And as I talked to Lelouch, I noticed something...different about him I suppose."

"Different? Different how?" asked Alicia, confused as to what he was implying.

"Well, every German Prince or Princess is now being taught from birth that the United States is a nation filled with murderers, scum, and others like that. But when Lelouch talked to me, he didn't talk to me as if I was the devil. He talked to me as if I was just a kid his age. I opened up to him and we became friends that day. And ever since then, whenever I came back to Germania, I'd always see him again."

"But Jack, this is the Nazi Empire we're talking about! These people are evil!" shouted Alicia, not believing what she was hearing come from Jack's mouth.

"Not everyone in Germania believes in the Nazis or their cause. I've met plenty of people in Germania who told me in secret their hatred and distrust for them. I mean, look at Lucina's organization for crying out loud! The whole ALF is made up of people within Germania who want the Nazis dead," countered Jack.

"If you believe that then why don't you hesitate when you're shooting at the _Wehrmacht_?" asked Rosie, bringing that information up.

"Maybe that's because I can't afford to waste time trying to figure out who's a loyal Nazi or not when both of them are shooting at me now can I?" joked Jack as he countered back at Rosie.

"So why did you never tell us?" asked Isara quite innocently.

"Kid. I think that part is obvious to _everyone_ in this room," said Jack, pointing to all of Squad 7.

"I meant why did you never tell this to me and Welks? Out of everyone here you've known us the longest," clarified Isara.

"Because what was I suppose to say? 'Oh by the way I just so happen to be friends with a member of the most powerful, hated, and feared Royal Families in the world?' Like that would have gone well. I never told you because I knew your trust with me would vanish within an instant," explained Jack.

"Well, you're right on that," muttered Largo "Boss, I don't care what you say. I am not fighting alongside this kid."

"Yeah, how do we even know he's on our side? I bet he told his German friend everything about us!" added Rosina.

"I'm not gonna work alongside any traitor!" admitted Catherine in her usual thick Irish accent.

The word 'traitor' struck Jack harder than all the others that were said. It appeared that what he had dreaded would happen actually did happen. All the trust and respect that he had managed to gain from them just yesterday had evaporated in an instant. He knew that sharing this kind of information was likely to cause something like this so he was very selective about who he had picked to tell it to. And after he told them the truth he would often feel grateful and relieved by getting this great weight off of his shoulders. But this instance was completely different. It was forced upon Jack and he had no choice but to tell them. And now that he had, all that he felt was dread and regret. Now he felt as if he was an outsider, that now he didn't belong in Squad 7 anymore. But what hurt him the most was that his friendship with Welkin, who was his first Gallian friend ever, was now over. Over because he told him the truth about his past.

With these feelings inside of him, Jack placed his hands within his pockets, bowed his head in shame, and made his way to the door. Welkin put a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to make him stay, but Jack simply shrugged it off, saying "Welkin...just...just leave me alone."

Jack then continued on his walk of shame to the main door as Welkin, Alicia, Isara, and the rest of Squad 7 watched him leave.

_"That was truly one of the down moments of my life. I felt as if the entire world suddenly turned against me, all because of my choice of friends. At that moment I went off into some deep thinking, as I tried to figure out my future within the Gallian Militia." - Jack Lawrence_

* * *

_Town of Ghirlandaio near the Gallian-German border_

_2100 hours (9:00 pm)_

The town of Ghirlandaio, name after the fortress of that same name, sat just fifteen miles from the mouth of the small mountain pass where the fortress of Ghirlandaio was situated on the Gallian side of the border. The town was larger than that of Mullow and many other Gallian towns, holding about one hundred and fifty thousand civilians, as well as several large Ragnite mines in the mountains. The town never executed evacuation protocols when war with Germania seemed imminent, feeling that the Ghirlandaio fortress would keep them safe. So when the Germans took the fortress they also seized the town as well, trapping everybody inside. Within a few hours of the initial seizure, the locals could feel the effects of the German occupation. Barbed wire fences, watchtowers, curfews, armed patrols, checkpoints, local police stations replaced with _Gestapo_ and _SS_ soldiers, and the Gallian flag the once flew over the city replaced with a Nazi flag. Where once the town was free, now it was under the boot heel of their Nazi occupiers. Just recently, a whole German division, with a total of 40,000 men strong, passed through the town for several hours in trucks, half-tracks, and tanks as they made their way to the Central Front as the reinforcements that Kaiser Byzantium brought in.

Though the town was usually under heavy security, there was even more German troops within the town due to several important people now within the town as well as another one due to arrive. At the town train station, a blockade of _Wehrmacht_ and _SS_ troops blockaded the street entrances that led to the station. Two black German staff cars waited just outside the station, waiting to pick up their passengers. Inside the station however, just on the edge of the platform stood a formation of _Wehrmacht_ troops who were in formation and standing at attention in an attempt to make a good impression upon their new commander. The train which was bringing said commander had only arrived a few mere moments ago, and the welcoming party was already en route to greet him. Byzantium, Hrist, Maximilian, and the Triumvirate marched up the platform stopping only just a few feet from the train. To say that Maximilian and his Generals were interested in who this new commander would be was a complete understatement.

"What do you want to bet that it's Grand Marshal Rommel himself that the Kaiser brought?" suggested Jaeger to Selvaria who stood behind the three royals with Selvaria and Johann on his left and Gregor on his right.

"Hmph. It does not matter who. If the Kaiser willed that he support the invasion than I shall abide by it," commented Gregor as he adjusted his glasses. Jaeger could only give out a slight chuckle at Gregor's unwavering fanaticism to the Reich.

"I don't like it. We don't need any help. Maximilian can win this war without this new commander," grumbled Selvaria in disgust at what was happening.

"I don't think we have much of a choice General. Byzantium's authority is higher than Maximilian's so we must obey his commands. We'll just have to wait and see what happens next," said Johann, who turned his head to look at Selvaria as he was clutching the file on this new Gallian Militia commander filled with whatever information that their agents in Gallia could find on him and send over.

Selvaria took in a deep breath as she took in her Captain's words. As usual, the man would tell her the reality in front of her that she simply would refuse to see. It was slightly annoying but also reassuring in times like these. So admitted to him "Thank you Johann. You are right, as usual."

'Thank you madam," said Johann, returning his gaze upon the train.

"Your commanders sure are a talkative bunch," said Hrist who stood on Byzantium's left while Maximilian stood on his right.

"They would not be talking about your new commander if you hadn't of brought him here," said Maximilian, still disgruntled about this decision.

"We wouldn't have needed to bring him if you were more competent," insulted Hrist.

"Enough you two. The decision is final Maximilian. I do not want anymore discussion on this topic. Just focus on greeting your new commander brother," said Byzantium, ending the little squabble between his brother and his wife.

"Who is this new commander anyway?" questioned Maximilian as he looked at his brother, asking now in order to satiate his curiosity.

"Oh, you'll see momentarily. In fact, I'd look forward right now," chuckled Byzantium, not taking his eyes off the train.

Suddenly, one of the train doors opened, and a young man exited the train and stepped down and onto the platform. He was a thin young man of about seventeen years of age with raven black hair and purple eyes. His attire was that of a German military officer but with some added touches to show his upbringing. He was wearing the standard German Field Marshal's field-grey colored uniform. His epaulets were colored white with the pins of a Field Marshal pinned to them. The young man also wore a black cloak with a white Fleur-de-lis emblazoned on the back was held with a clasp fastened around his neck. The right side of his uniform was pinned with various medals but the most prominent one he had, the blue and gold Pour le Mérite, Germania's highest honor, he had tied around his neck. Additionally, he had the armband of the Black Knights standard on his right arm and finally he wore a German Officer's cap which had the symbol of the Black Knights on it as well. For weapons he had a revolver tucked inside of a brown leather holster on his right hip while he had a German military cutlass in it's scabbard on his left hip.

Maximilian stood momentarily stunned as well as his officers, Byzantium and Hrist simply gave off an evil smile, and the the _Wehrmacht_ troops stiffened their posture and saluted as the young man bowed slightly and introduced himself with his full title.

"Lelouch vi Britannia. Eleventh Prince of the Imperial Germanian Reich, Field Marshal of the _Wehrmacht_, Commander-in-Chief of the Black Knights, and my personal favorite: the Demon of Germania, at your service. I stand ready to take the field and command those under me," he announced.

The troops gave him the Nazi salute as they shouted to him at the top of their lungs "_Sieg Heil Lelouch! Sieg Heil Lelouch! Sieg Heil Lelouch!_"

* * *

German to English translations

1\. _Sieg Heil Lelouch! Sieg Heil Lelouch! Sieg Heil Lelouch!_ \- All Hail Lelouch! All Hail Lelouch! All Hail Lelouch!

* * *

**DUN-DUN-DUN! Lelouch vi Britannia, the Black Prince, has taken the field on the Gallian Front. Now that he's here, things are going to get real complicated really quickly. How do you suppose the Gallians will do now with this development? **

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	27. The Black Prince of Germaina

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

Maximilian and the Triumvirate stood there momentarily stunned for they had never expected that the new commander being brought up to the front was none other than the Black Prince himself. The young Prince had a great reputation within the military as well as in the German Imperial court. During the Border Skirmishes, he never lost a single battle and in each one he fought he had utterly destroyed his opponents forces through well thought out strategic planning and clever tactical maneuvers. Even if he would ever lose a battle, one could imagine that it would be a Pyrrhic victory for the other side, since their losses would be exceptionally high. If he was brought here, then that meant that things were about to get very interesting. Very interesting indeed.

Lelouch turned back to the door as a beautiful young woman came down onto the platform as well. She was his age at seventeen years, a few centimeters shorter than Lelouch, had aqua colored eyes, and shoulder length red hair that was combed down. She was wearing a modified German officer's uniform that was made specifically for her. Instead of the standard field-grey color, it was just colored grey with red trimmings. Her shoulders were adorned with elaborate epaulets which showed her rank as that of a Field Marshal, same as Lelouch, as well as wearing a black leather trench coat over her uniform. Around her neck was a red piece of cloth with an Iron Cross that the woman used as a kind of necklace. She also had strapped to her belt was a Luger pistol in a brown leather holster and a rapier within it's sheath. Finally, and the most peculiar of items she wore with her, was a cloth tied around her right arm that wore the traditional Darcsen pattern on it. This woman was a well known officer with the Nazi Reich. A rising star in the _Wehrmacht's_ Panzer Divisions as a tank commander and as a tank ace. To those pf the Panzer crews, they knew her as 'The Red Lotus', on account of her hair color and fiery personality. But to Lelouch, he knew her by a different name. For she is Kallen vi Britannia, formerly Kallen Stadtfeld, the daughter of Duke Stadtfeld. Princess of the Imperial Germanian Reich and Lelouch's lovely wife. Lelouch extended his hand out which his wife, with a lovely smile on her face, gladly took as he guided her down the steps. She was given the same greeting upon arriving with the troops giving her the Nazi salute while shouting at the top of their lungs "_Sieg Heil Kallen! Sieg Heil Kallen! Sieg Heil Kallen!_"

The fact that Lelouch's wife was here as well was an added surprise for her reputation was just as well known as her husband's. She fought alongside him all throughout his time during the Border Skirmishes, taking command of her own upgraded and customized Tiger tank and fighting on the front lines with her troops same as Lelouch. Her total amount of tank kills has varied due to different sources of information ranging from official military records to first hand accounts of witnesses who were there. But one thing is certain is that when she was asked about it she simply responded 'I've taken out so many that I've lost count after fifty'. The woman was fascinated with Darcsen culture, hence the armband with the Darcsen pattern on it. Though some people in the aristocracy looked down on it a little bit, most generally ignored it since she was related to one of the most powerful members of the Royal Family.

Soon, out came three more people around their age, two nineteen years old and one seventeen years old, as they exited from the train. These were the people who made up Lelouch's General Staff and helped him run the Black Knights and operations with the _Wehrmacht_. The first that came out was the nineteen year old Colonel Alexander Isaac, Lelouch and Kallen's second-in-command, with his brown hair and eyes. He came out wearing the same field grey uniform, officers hat, and trench coat he always wore when on duty. Sewn onto his right sleeve was the armband of the soldiers of the Black Knights. It had three horizontal lines that were from top to bottom: black, white, and finally red. Displayed on it was what appeared to be a black eagle with Lelouch's coat-of-arms.

The second person who came out was Lelouch's Knight Lightning. She had aqua blue eyes and short wavy rose pink hair with a few locks on her left side that reached just below her shoulder. True to her knight status, she wore a set of silver armor with gold trimmings. She wore armor that covered her chest with a golden Fleur-de-lis, the top half of her back, shoulders, most of her legs, boots, her hips, and the top portion of her hands and forearms. She also wore a type of black, skin tight clothing that covered the rest of her body from the lower torso down that was not already covered by the armor. She also wore it on her arms that stretched from her hands to the middle of her upper arms. Finally, she wore a type of white skirt that began from her waist and draped down towards the top of her boots, covering only the back and sides of her legs. Her appearance was striking. And if one would describe her they would say that she looked beautiful, tough, and probably pretty sexy. Strapped to her belt was a large and powerful looking sword within it's sheath, and what appeared to be a Mauser C96 pistol placed inside a modified holster, allowing for a much faster draw.

And finally, the third person was Suzaku Kururugi, the Knight of Lelouch's younger half-sister Euphemia li Britannia. He is seventeen years old, had brown hair and green eyes. He wore a typical Knight's white ceremonial uniform with gold trimmings, which he kept in good condition at all times, that was military like but still radiated nobility. He also had on black military boots and gloves, along with a locket, a gift from Princess Euphemia, which he wore around his neck at all times along with an Iron Cross pinned to his uniform. He also carried a rapier, same as Kallen's as well as a Luger pistol, and finally he wore a white trench coat over it as well.

Suzaku was an oddity among Germanian Knights and _Wehrmacht_ soldiers due to the fact that he was actually a foreigner. Suzaku was born and raised in Japan, the son of the countries Prime Minister Genbu Kururugi, whose position within the government was second only to Emperor Hirohito himself. Like Jack, he and his father went on diplomatic visits to Germania since Japan was their ally. At the age of ten he met Lelouch, Kallen, Jack and their little entourage and became friends with them. When he was sixteen he entered the Imperial Japanese Army as an officer and once his training was completed he was sent to Germania as a liaison between the _Wehrmacht_ and the Imperial Japanese Army eventually becoming a member of the Black Knights and Lelouch's General Staff. The problem was that in Germania, foreigners were considered to be second class citizens though thankfully not as bad as the Darcsen slaves the Nazis used in the concentration camps. Either way he endured throughout the prejudice in the German military, and set himself to be a good example for the Japanese people.

During his service as the Japanese military liaison, he ended up meeting Germania's Third Princess Euphemia li Britannia. The two developed a liking to each other and through some political maneuvering on her part, she managed to get him a position as her personal bodyguard, a Germanian Knight. This was met with some outcry by the aristocracy to this since the position was only given out to those who had served in the German military, but none could deny the young man's intellect, military training, and physical prowess which was what was needed for a Knight. Though publicly they appeared to be nothing more than Princess and Knight, in the background they were secretly in a romantic relationship which they kept a secret at Lelouch's behest. This was due to the fact that news of a secret romantic relationship between a Princess and her Knight, a foreign one no less, would only bring an untold amount of trouble upon the two of them from Byzantium, Hrist, and many other important people.

So to sum it all up, standing in front of Byzantium, Hrist, Maximilian, and the Triumvirate was an official rouges gallery: a Prince who serves as Germania's best strategist and tactician, a nobleman's daughter turned _Wehrmacht_ Field Marshal and Princess, Germania's youngest Colonel, a Knight, and the son of Japan's Prime Minister. Quite a cast of characters.

"Welcome to the Principality of Gallia, Lelouch. And to you as well Kallen," announced Byzantium, welcoming his younger brother and sister-in-law to the front lines.

"I didn't exactly plan on coming here to Gallia at all until you had to send a messenger to my home," admitted Lelouch.

"We figured that it would be more convenient than flying to the Bavarian mountains all the way from little old Strasbourg," clarified Hrist, explaining the reason for the messenger.

Maximilian said nothing during this whole conversation. He just stared at Lelouch in disgust by the fact that he was even here in the first place. It was already bad enough that Byzantium had decided to bring in another commander because he believed that Maximilian could not do his job properly, but that he brought in Lelouch as the new commander was just downright annoying if not bothersome to him. Lelouch was known for winning battles and devastating his foes. To him, the battlefield was like a game of chess, a game that Lelouch himself excelled at. If he was here, then Lelouch would definitely be able to take Randgriz and ruin whatever plans that Maximilian had set later on. But on the other hand, Lelouch's arrival did surprise him. He expected someone like Grand Marshall Erwin Rommel or Captain Helmut Bourdais, but not the famed Black Prince in person.

Out of all of his siblings, Lelouch was the one that Maximilian despised the most. He was looked upon as the most likely to inherit the throne despite him having several older siblings that were just as eligible. Normally, with a monarchy the first born of the current ruler was the one to inherit the throne. And if the ruler died with no heirs then the next oldest sibling was the most likely candidate. But with the Germanian Royal Family, it was a more complicated case than a normal monarchy. For each current ruler, they choose who should inherit the throne. So before Kaiser Charles was assassinated seven years ago, he had chosen to have his oldest son Byzantium succeed him which he did after the assassination. The Royal Family did this to insure that the country is not stuck with an inept and incompetent ruler and this policy has served the Imperial Germanian Reich throughout it's three thousand year reign.

For Byzantium, since he has no children with his wife Hrist, he has chosen to have Lelouch succeed him. But Byzantium has stated that if he believes his child would be a better ruler than he would be more likely to inherit the position. And unfortunately, since Maximilian was an _adopted_ member of the Royal Family that meant that by traditional laws he was exempt from succession. He had hoped that this invasion would help change a few minds as to the subject and finally let him be able to become a worthy successor. Now his plans seem all but dashed by the sudden arrival of Lelouch.

"Of all the officers you could have brought here you just had to come with your pet favorite General," lamented Maximilian.

"We didn't ask to be here Maximilian. But we're here now so you're just going to have to deal with us," remarked Kallen, clearly insulted by what Maximilian said about her husband being Byzantium's 'pet favorite General'.

"I did not require your services, nor those of your army when this war began. And I certainly have no need of you now," mentioned Maximilian.

"Any yet, here I am," countered Lelouch, smirking as he said it.

"Enough. All of you," said Byzantium, bringing their bickering to an end "The decision is final and I will not have you lot waste my valuable time arguing while there is a war to be won here. Now I have already briefed him on your current situation. He'll form a strategy that will win us both Randgriz and the war. Now If I was you I'd suggest you stand aside so that he may get to work."

Maximilian began to back off and Byzantium gestured for all of them to make way for Lelouch and his entourage so that they could make their way to the German staff cars waiting outside the train station. Several of the Triumvirate complied with this willingly, but those like Maximilian and Selvaria did it out of protest since they never agreed to this in the first place. As Lelouch and his company passed them, Captain Johann handed to the young prince the file on the new Gallian commander they would be assigned to deal with. Lelouch kindly accepted it, briefly read the first page of info on the Gallian officer before leading his group through the station and to where the two black German staff cars were parked idly just outside.

It appeared that the armed escorts for the staff cars had also arrived since they were parked nearby with the crews standing in attention right next to them. The escort for each of the staff cars consisted of one German motorcycle with a sidecar attachment which included an MG42 machine gun for defensive purposes, an Sd. Kfz.251 half-track with it's two MG42's, one placed in the front and the rear, as well as a full load of ten _Wehrmacht_ soldiers for both of them, and finally an Sd. Kfz.222 armored car with a 20 millimeter autocannon and an MG42 placed inside an open top turret. The armored car served throughout the German Army for patrol duties within their empire, armed escorts, anti-partisan activities, as well as front line duties where there is not much resistance. The Nazi soldiers throughout the provinces affectionately nicknamed them 'Man Killers' due to their effectiveness in eliminating enemy insurgents and infantry.

All of the soldiers and crewmen present outside noticed their arrival and gave them a crisp salute in their presence. Lelouch released them from their stance when he saluted back to them. As the crews went to their vehicles in order to ready them for duty, Lelouch looked to his fellows and decided to give them their individual tasks which would help pave the way for the grand plan for taking Randgriz which he had discussed with them earlier. He explained "Alright, here's what we're going to do. Isaac and Lightning will go to the Ardennes and assist with General Jaeger with the security of the supply base there. I've ordered a company of Black Knights to enter Gallia through the Ardennes and reinforce your position. Kallen, Suzaku, and I will head to the Central Front and take command of the forces currently there along with the newly arrived reinforcements from the _Wehrmacht_ and proceed with the plan. Before the month is out, Randgriz will be ours and we'll be free to pursue our other plans. Everyone clear on what they are to do once everything is in position?"

They all nodded their heads in agreement, easing Lelouch's worries about the situation. For them, this was going to be different than what they have previously done during the Border Skirmishes. During that time they would simply lead the Black Knights against various enemy forces from the Atlantic Federation, Balkan Confederacy, and the Soviet Union that were being used to probe the German border for any weaknesses in the event of a future war. In the end Lelouch's forces would always win these fights, utterly devastating the enemy and causing them to run away back to whence they came from. And every time, the victorious Black Knights would come out with only minimal casualties, a grand achievement for any army. But what they were doing was going to be more difficult since this was an actual war they would be fighting in and not a few simple skirmishes. It would be more challenging yes, but one advantage they had was that they had Lelouch on their side, the best strategist and tactician in Germania, if not in military history. This made the battles they would likely fight in the future seem a lot less impossible which gave everyone more ease.

However, there was one thing that concerned most of them: this Gallian commander they were assigned to eliminate. Isaac asked his friend in concern "How exactly do you plan on finding this Gallian commander and beating him? From what little we've heard about him and what's probably in that file you've got, he's more competent than many of the officers in Gallia, and pretty clever too."

Isaac could almost see the gears in Lelouch's head turning as his devious mind had already concocted a way to do that. With a smirk upon his face, he pulled out a sealed envelope from his pocket and responded "I'll turn the game around, so that he's the one who'll come to me."

Lelouch looked over to the nearest soldier and signaled for him to come over. Once he did so, Lelouch handed him the envelope and asked him "Is Captain Emilia here?"

"Yes, your highness. She's staying at the hotel here in town," answered the soldier honestly.

"Tell her that I'm here and to ready her plane. I have a little task for her. The instructions are in that envelope which you are to deliver to her. Now get going," explained Lelouch, making sure that the soldier clearly understood what he was being told.

The soldier gave a salute before turning on his heel and rushing off to deliver the envelope to Captain Emilia. Lelouch and his entourage soon walked down the steps to the staff cars that awaited them. Lelouch, Kallen, and Suzaku took the one in front while Lightning and Colonel Isaac took the one behind. Their escorts were now revving their engines and moved out alongside the staff cars. The two groups diverged upon two different roads with Lelouch, Kallen, and Suzaku taking the route to the Central Front near the Gallian fortress of Aslone while Lighting and Colonel Isaac took the route for the Ardennes. The escorts moved into formation in order to protect their charges. The motorcycles took the lead followed by the armored cars, the staff cars, and finally the half-tracks.

They all moved down along the roads, their path in the darkness lit only by the moonlight and the headlights of their vehicles. And as they drove along their long path, inside the staff car heading to the Central Front Suzaku stared out through the window, deep with his thoughts. Lelouch noticed that with his friend and asked him "Is there something on your mind Suzaku?"

Suzaku turned to face Lelouch before replying "Yeah. Remind me again how you ended up dragging us all here again?"

Lelouch let out a slight laugh before explaining " Okay then. It all started at the Aries Villa..."

* * *

_Flashback_

_Earlier Yesterday 1230 hours (12:30 pm)_

_The Ares Villa, located in the Bavarian Mountains_

_Germania's main province of Germany, the ancient birthplace of the Imperial Germanian Reich_

_It was a calm and sunny day within the Germania's pristine Bavarian Mountains. Long has it been a place where the the Nazi Empire's elite have taken up residence. Aside from the many settlements that litter the countryside, this mountain range has had a long tradition where the aristocracy and the Royal Family have set up residences high up in the mountains. The most prominent of these residences was the Ares Villa, located upon the highest point of the Bavarian Alps. It was a present from Kaiser Charles, Germania's previous Kaiser, to his wife Kaiserina Marianne. Upon their fateful deaths, the deed and ownership of the estate was handed over to Marianne's oldest son Lelouch, who turned the estate into his permanent home and the headquarters for his military operations with the Wehrmacht and the Black Knights. It was home and work all in one, but not today. Today he was holding a lunch party at his estate, and many influential people within the Reich were invited to the party, including many of Lelouch's allies._

_All over the villa, there was a bustling of activity. Nobles and Generals mingled with one another as the part carried on into the afternoon. Despite hearing that the Gallian Militia had thwarted their forces at Vasel, spirits were still high among the nobles who continued to support the war, expecting total victory before the summer. The atmosphere was typical of Germanian nobility. The rich attended their fancy parties while the common citizens worked to the bone to fuel their empire and the Nazi war machine._

_Lelouch however, didn't seem interested in attending his own party. __He wore the same outfit that he would eventually wear when he would head for the Gallian Front tomorrow, minus the long black cloak that is. Lelouch__ simply leaned upon the stone railing of the large open courtyard while his guests continued to mingle about behind him. He simply stared out on to the glorious and breathtaking view that laid before him, completely oblivious to what was going on around him. Being so high up in the mountains did offer a tremendous view of the countryside. From where he was standing, he could see over the whole valley as well as several small towns directly below. He continued to stare at this for several moments before being brought back to reality by the sound of Kallen's voice._

_"Not enjoying the party?" she asked Lelouch plainly as she was also leaning against the railing next to her husband. Lelouch looked over to Kallen and couldn't help but crack a smile at how beautiful she looked. She was dressed in a strapless black dress that showed her legs up to her knee's. She also wore a necklace with a stone that was the same dark-blue color as the Darcsen's hair. It was a gift to her from Lelouch when they were still dating, and she wore it everyday since then, even at their wedding._

_"I never did like these parties, even when growing up in New Berlin at the Imperial Palace. Sometimes I wonder why I ever still have them," commented Lelouch._

_"Yeah. I know what you mean. Times like these I just want to get away from the crowd for a while," agreed Kallen._

_"Then again, those parties weren't all that bad. If I didn't attend them then I wouldn't have met you," remarked Lelouch, remembering that he first met Kallen at one of these events when they were only six years old._

_Kallen let out a giggle as the memory of that event came back to her. She then stated to Lelouch "You always did look at the world in an interesting way. That's one of the things that I like about you."_

_It was then that she wrapped her arms around his neck and drew the two of them into a passionate kiss. The kiss would have gone on for a while longer but it was interrupted when one of the Black Knights who served as the guards for the villa walked over to them and cleared her throat. The two ceased their now ruined romantic moment and looked to the soldier. For the Black Knights, their uniform was tailored to make them distinguishable from the rest of the German Army. For the Wehrmacht, they had field-grey uniforms, the SS had black uniforms, the Gestapo had brown uniforms and civilian clothes, but the Black Knights uniforms stood out from both factions. They still wore the same field-grey uniforms of the Wehrmacht but each Black Knight wore a black and white bandanna around their necks, painted a prominent black and white stripe on their helmet, and finally tied a black and white cloth around their arm. They had the same patch on their right arm that showed the province where they originated from within the Reich, but the armband and patch on their left arm held Lelouch's standard instead of the Nazi swastika or national flag. The soldiers of the Black Knights answered only to Lelouch and were completely loyal and devoted to him. And under his leadership he turned the Black Knights into a fighting force to be reckoned with._

_The soldier went on to explain what was so important. She explained "Colonel Isaac and Mistress Lightning wish to speak with you in the study. They say that it is urgent."_

_"How urgent?" asked Lelouch, curious as to where this was going._

_"They did not say your highness. They simply asked that I inform you that they wished to see you," answered the soldier truthfully. Lelouch let out a sigh as he reluctantly followed her to the study, and away from his wife. After a few twists and turns they arrived at the study. Lelouch proceeded to go into the room while the soldier went back to her post. Much of the study's walls were lined with large bookcases that were filled to the brim with books of all subjects and all sizes. there was also a second door that gave access to a long hallway. There were two couches stationed around a table with glasses and a bottle of brandy within the middle of the room. And finally there was a large wooden desk that Lelouch used for much of his work, with his standard draped behind the desk._

_Inside the room he found Lightning and Isaac standing together near the desk. Both of them indicated by their body language that there was something important that they wanted to tell him, and badly. Lightning averted her gaze from Lelouch and stared upon the ground while Isaac swayed back and forth. Once Lelouch had closed the door and all three of them were alone within the room, he just came out and asked them "Okay, what is it that's so important you two had to tear me away from Kallen?"_

_Lightning was the first to speak, managing to say "Well...it's about me and Isaac. We've been keeping a secret from you for a while now and we thought it best that we let you know-"_

_Lelouch caught them both off guard when he cut her off and finished Lightning's statement with "That the two of you are dating?"_

_Both of them looked at Lelouch, eyes bugging out of their heads. They had expected to be the ones to reveal their relationship to Lelouch, not the other way around where Lelouch says that he knows all about it. They were now wondering to each other how in the world did their friend find out about their secret affair. It just didn't seem possible. "Y-y-you know about us?" asked Isaac in complete shock._

_"I've known the whole time," admitted Lelouch in a calm demeanor._

_"How? How did you even find out?" asked Lightning curiously._

_"The next time you two want to keep a secret from me, don't turn my living room into a kissing booth," explained Lelouch with a bit of frustration clearly evident within his voice._

_Lightning and Isaac's faces both turned red from embarrassment as they suddenly recalled how they would often kiss whenever people weren't looking. And it looks like one of those times they didn't look hard enough to see that the coast was clear when they started because Lelouch must have seen it while they were both preoccupied with...each other. "So...are you mad then?" asked Lightning, now hoping that he would take this well._

_"I'm only mad because you two decided to not tell me until now. I'm happy for you two," he admitted with a grin upon his face. Lightning and Isaac calmed down not that they knew the truth. To be honest, knowing that Lelouch agreed to their relationship was a relief. They were worried that he wouldn't accept this and tell them to break it off. But then they remembered how Lelouch wasn't one for long standing Germanian traditions. So it should have long been obvious that he wouldn't have cared how the two of them deeply cared for each other. Maybe it was more prudent that they should have told them about their affair years ago._

_"Now if that's all, I should be going," announced Lelouch as he began to leave the room and head back for the party. But before he even got to the door, Lightning cleared her throat, indicating that there was more to this than he thought. Lelouch decided, grudgingly, to stay and hear out what else the two of them had to say. He went over to the couch that was facing towards the second door and took a seat, waiting for them to speak on what else they had to say. But to his surprise, no one said anything. Instead, Isaac went over to the second door and opened it, revealing Lelouch's sister Cornelia li Britannia who stepped into the room with a hint of nervousness upon her face. _

_Lelouch's face went limp as he tried to figure out what was going on. He had barely spoken to Cornelia since the event seven years ago where his parents were assassinated and his little sister was crippled and blinded in the attack. To see her now in his own home was a complete shock to him since she never hinted any intention of coming to visit. He turned his head to his subordinates to try and get an answer out of them, but before he knew it the two of them had run out the door and closed it shut. He then heard a sharp click which indicated that they locked the door as well, and it would only be a matter of time before they would lock the other one, which they did a few seconds later. It became clear to Lelouch at this moment that they had clearly planned this, for what reason, he didn't have a clue. But now, it seemed that all he could do was sit and listen to what Cornelia had to say, though she seemed more than reluctant to make the first move so Lelouch decided to speed things along and get this over with._

_"What is it you want?" he asked, more harshly than he intended._

_It took a few moments before Cornelia got the courage to speak. For the one title 'Goddess of Victory' in the Wehrmacht, she sure didn't have the same confidence when it came to other matters. "I wanted to make things right between us Lelouch," she claimed in a calm but shaky voice._

_Lelouch crossed his arms before replying back "I'm listening."_

_"I'm sorry for what happened to our father and your mother. And I'm even more sorry with what happened to Nunnally. If I had been more careful then maybe...maybe all of that could have been avoided," said, Cornelia apologizing as best as she could for her failure all those years ago._

_"It's a bit late for you to suddenly apologize don't you think?" countered Lelouch with a mixture of anger and sarcasm._

_Cornelia suddenly blew it and shouted at Lelouch, saying "Well what did you expect?! You wouldn't even talk to me much less listen to anything I'd say! Ever since that day seven years ago all you've ever done is hate me over what happened! And no matter how much I tried to speak to you and apologize you'd simply ignore me completely and not say anything at all back! So for once in your life just stop being so stubborn and just let me admit for once that I'm sorry!"_

_Lelouch was taken aback by his sister's words. He had never seen her so angry about anything, at least this angry that he can remember. He was left speechless as Cornelia's expression changed back to the one of sorrow and regret she had on earlier. Cornelia continued to explain her case to Lelouch "Everyday since that night I continually told myself how it was my fault and my fault alone. It was my responsibility to keep everyone safe and I failed at that. And I have to live with it for the rest of my life. But what hurt the most wasn't their deaths, but how you said you hated me. I can't even describe it in words how I felt when you spoke those words. And ever since then I've been working on how I could make it up to you. Honestly, I realize now that it's not possible. But all the same...I just want us to be close again like we were when we were younger. I just want my little brother back. And I know I've said this before...but I'm sorry. More than you can ever imagine."_

_Lelouch was at a loss for words, a rarity for a man like him. It's true that he's held a grudge against Cordelia ever since his parents assassination, but he never expected Cornelia too apologize, much less attempt too. This was a side of her that he had never seen at all. Now that he had seen it, maybe it was time to rethink his position on this whole thing. His grudge against her had been lessening for some time now, and he was more focused on his other projects than worrying about this whole thing between him and Cordelia. Maybe it was time to finally let bygones be bygones._

_So with a deep breath, he finally stood up and admitted "I guess that it's time for me to...what is it the Americans say? 'Bury the hatchet'?"_

_Upon hearing the news, Cornelia's face broke into a grin. And in an instant, she sprung from her seat and embraced her brother in a tight hug. It simply filled her with joy that this rift between the two of them was finally over. The same could not be said for Lelouch who was struggling to breath. He had forgotten how strong his sister was, and her very tight grip on him was crushing his lungs. Just when it seemed like she was about to suffocate him, they heard a knock upon one of the doors. Cornelia released Lelouch as both of them turned to face the door which swung open, revealing Grand Marshal Erwin Rommel in his full military uniform with a trench coat covering it up. It seemed that today was a day for surprises for Lelouch. First this business with Lightning and Isaac, him reconciling with his sister, and now his mentor appearing in his home._

_"Lelouch, Cornelia, good to see you again," said Rommel, in a pleasant attitude. Though it was tradition to address a Royal as his or her highness, Rommel had formed close ties with the Royal Family so he knew them all on a first name basis with most of them, excluding Byzantium and Hrist whom he addressed as Kaiser and Kaiserina. He was especially close to Lelouch and Cornelia, whom he mentored in military strategies when they volunteered. The two of them saw Rommel as a father figure, often going to him for advice. And he helped console both of them upon the death of Kaiser Charles and Kaiserina Marianne. And since he was the Grand Marshall of Germania's Armed Forces, they reported directly to him on military matters. So if he was here, then something was definitely up._

_Rommel looked over to Cornelia and suggested "Cornelia, why don't you leave us alone? I have some business to discuss with Lelouch."_

_Cornelia simply nodded and left the room through the door that Rommel came in, shutting it closed as she left. Once again, Lelouch was left alone with another person inside of his home. And something told him that things were about to get even more interesting than they already were. Since he figured that, he walked over to the table in the middle of the room and began to pour two drinks. He handed one to Rommel while he took a sip of his own before asking his mentor "Alright then, what is it that my brother wants this time? The Federation probing our borders again and he wants me to send them running?"_

_Rommel took a sip of his own glass before getting down to brass tacks and admitting "Something like that. He wants you to take command of the troops on the Central Front in Gallia."_

_"He wants me to replace Maximillian?" asked Lelouch, in complete disbelief over what he was hearing._

_"Technically no, he wants you to bring in a battalion of your Black Knights, along with the whole division of reinforcements being readied to join the fight there, and formulate a plan to break the stalemate on the Central Front. Therefore allowing us to break through and finally capture Randgriz," clarified Rommel._

_"Why? Does this have to do with our setback at Vasel?" asked Lelouch, recalling current events._

_"Yes. Kaiser Byzantium is furious with Maximilian for this. He's upset that the Gallian Militia managed to take the city from a hardened Wehrmacht force. It's a complete embarrassment to the German Army. He and Kaiserina Hrist will be heading to Ghirlandaio tomorrow to express their concern on the subject," explained Rommel._

_"I still don't see how this should involve me," pointed out Lelouch._

_Rommel soon got to the point and asked Lelouch "Tell me, does the name 'Gunther' ring a bell to you?"_

_Lelouch was surprised for a moment there. He remembered hearing stories about General Belgen Gunther, the Gallian war hero who kept the German Army at bay during the Great War. He was held in high regard among his countrymen, and he had also made quite an impression upon German leadership for his bold tactics he used during the war. But what made him stand out was his rivalry between him and Kaiserina Marianne. When she was a commander in the Wehrmacht during the Great War, she and General Gunther's troops would often clash with each other in the fighting in Gallia. The rivalry between the two became the stuff of folklore and propaganda for both sides. Both of them would win and lose battles against each other, just waiting for the deciding match that would show who was the better commander. But the war ended before that would happen, and the result was a draw between them. _

_"Yes, I know of him. Why?" asked Lelouch, curious as to where Rommel was going with this._

_"The Militia commander who drove our forces out used a bold tactic. He crossed the river in a tank while the rest of his unit followed behind in boats. They waited for most of the garrison to cross the bridge before raising it and sending our forces into the river. It caught our forces completely by surprise. And the day before that, he caused one of our outposts to retreat, and managed to sneak past our main line of defense for Vasel and took out our command center, leaving our forces in disarray. Now in the time since the announcement of our defeat there, I called in a few favors and got some more information. From what I've found out, this Militia officer: is none other than the late Belgen Gunther's son, Lieutenant Welkin Gunther," explained Rommel._

_Now Lelouch was completely intrigued. The son of Belgen Gunther, his mother's old rival, was the one who won that victory at Vasel. That was very interesting indeed. During his entire military career, Lelouch had dealt with enemy commanders whom he could easily defeat. And the easy wins had begun to grow very tiresome and boring. He had long been waiting for an opponent who can match his caliber and wits. To actually have an opponent where he would be challenged to the fullest of his abilities. And now, here was the son of Marianne's rival, giving Maximilian trouble. Lelouch had always hoped that he could one day settle the score between his mother and the Gunther's, and now the opportunity was calling out to him. And of this Welkin Gunther could come up with a plan as audacious as this, then maybe he would be a worthy opponent after all._

_And with a wide grin upon his face, Lelouch finished his drink and asked "A Gunther eh? Well then, What time should they expect my arrival at the front?"_

* * *

_Flashback Ends_

"...and that is what happened," said Lelouch, who had just finished explaining the story to Suzaku.

"Welkin Gunther? Do we even know everything about him?" asked Suzaku out of concern that this hotshot Militia commander might be the end of his friend.

Lelouch held out the file in his hand and explained confidently and with a devious grin "Yes. My son-of-a-bitch brother is good for something. His spies have managed to transport everything that they could find about him. I now know everything about him. Where he was born, where he went to school, who his friends are, EVERYTHING. I know more about him than he does about me, and that gives me a distinct advantage. Once again our families will fight each other in the fields of Gallia, once again we'll lead our forces in clashes that will determine the course of a nation. But this time...I am going to end this feud between our families once and for all."

* * *

_Fort Amaranthine_

_Captain Varrot, Commander of the Third Regiment's office _

_2100 hours (9:00 pm)_

Varrot was inside of her office, finishing the last of her paperwork. Once it was finished, she planned on returning back to her quarters and turning in for the night. And with a sigh of relief, she signed off the last few sheets of paper, ending a long days worth of work. But just as it seemed like her day was about to end, she heard a knock upon her door. It looks like she had one more thing to do before she could go on to sleep. She calmly adjusted her glasses before saying "Come in."

The door opened to reveal Corporal Jack Lawrence. She was slightly surprised that he was here, since the rest of his squad had already turned in for the night. Jack walked up to Varrot's desk, saluted her and announced himself with "Ma'am. Corporal Jackson Alexander Lawrence. Quarter master of Militia Squad 7 of the Third Regiment."

"At ease Corporal. What are you doing up so late?" asked Varrot, curious as to what was the meaning of this.

Jack released himself from the salute and stated nervously "Captain...I...I have a favor to ask of you. I'd like to...I'd like to be transferred out of Squad 7."

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	28. Distrust for the Yankee

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Captain Varrot's Office_

To say that Jack's request had caught her off guard would have been an understatement at best. The last time she had checked, it seemed like Lawrence and the rest of Squad 7 were getting along quite nicely. She couldn't figure what could have happened in that short amount of time to make Jack have to ask her for a transfer out of the squad so readily. It was then that Jack began to explain to her all that had transpired since she had last seen them. He told her about Mullow, Lucina, Iohan, and about his friendship with Prince Lelouch, with the last one giving her the biggest surprise. And while she couldn't understand how something like that was even possible, it did give Jack an explanation as to why he wanted to leave Squad 7 for good.

"So that's your explanation for being in my office at this late hour?" asked Varrot.

"Yes ma'am...I...I don't think I have much of a place there anymore after all of this. No one there will trust me anymore after all of this, no matter what I tell them. They all think that I'm some sort of German spy or something," explained Jack, still somber from his earlier discussion.

"Are you sure about this Corporal? This is a very big favor of you to ask of me," questioned Varrot, wanting to make sure that Lawrence was certain of it.

"Captain Varrot, I think that for the time being this may be the best choice for the moment," responded Jack.

Varrot let out a deep sigh as Jack's words began to sink in. She could see how torn up the young man was about leaving the squad. He didn't wish to go but he probably feels like he has no choice. With his friendship with Lelouch revealed, he stated that no one trusts him, in fact some now outright resent him. He most likely figured that there was no possible way for him to win back their trust, no matter what he said or did. So perhaps transferring him to a different unit would be the beneficial. And Varrot had a pretty good idea as to which unit to send the American Corporal. She opened one of her drawers and shuffled through a few papers before finding the one that she needed and pulled it out. She took a few moments to read over the lines and made sure this was the right one.

Once she had determined that it was so, she looked to Jack and stated "I can't transfer you to another Militia squad. But I can put you in this group: The Devil's Brigade."

"Wait a minute here. Does this mean that you're sending me over to the Regulars then?" asked Jack, thinking that this is what she was implying.

"No actually. They're an American unit," clarified Varrot.

Jack raised an eyebrow at the mention of 'American'. In confusion, he asked the Captain "American unit ma'am? But my country isn't at war with Germania...well not yet anyway. All they're doing is supplying the Gallian war effort and sending in independent transports to try and sneak past the German's coastal blockade. At least, that's what I remembered."

"These men and women are volunteers from the U.S. Military. Though I'd use the term volunteer quite loosely. Officially, their here as volunteers, which they are doing quite well and their help has been invaluable so far. But the reality is that the Americans sent them to us so that your country could develop strategies to counter German forces in the event of a war with the Reich," explained Varrot.

It took time for Jack to ponder those facts in his head. For someone who received news about American politics and decisions from his father who was coincidentally the Secretary of State, this was something that he was completely unaware of. That fact that there were American troops fighting here was however a bit of relief. If he was going to be fighting alongside someone in this war, at least it would be with his own countrymen. Though, if they truly were here in Gallia, then there was one question that Jack needed answered.

"Okay then, if some of the U.S. Army is here, then where are they? I haven't seen any since this war started," he questioned.

"They operate from an old base in Southern Gallia, out of reach of the German forces. They act as a sort of Commando unit. Sending in small groups of men to attack key enemy positions and causing mass destruction. Though sometimes they act alongside the Regulars and the Militia, General Damon prefers to keep them out of Gallian operations if necessary. I believe a Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr is commanding this unit," she clarified to Jack.

"Theodore Roosevelt Jr.? Did you just say he was in charge?," mentioned Jack, slightly surprised that _she_ was the one in charge of the Devil's Brigade.

"You know him?" inquired a curious Varrot.

"You could say that. Though the last time I saw him was almost a year ago and he was in charge of a medical hospital, not a combat unit," admitted Jack.

"Well then, that should make things easier for me then. I'll contact him in the morning about this then and see what I can do. In the meantime I'll see what I can do about your current situation," assured the Varrot.

"Well what about now? I don't think I can go back to the barracks because if I do, I fell like I'm going to wake up stuffed into a barrel buried six feet underground," said Jack, noting his concern for his well being.

"Hm. I might have a suggestion or two," she noted.

* * *

_"I ended up getting assigned to guard duty that night at Fort Amaranthine. Normally, a soldier would hate having to be up this late at night. But during the winters in Alaska I had gotten used to being able to stay up all night. I simply grabbed a gun and began patrolling the base along with a few other guards. Each of us were assigned different areas of the base to guard and I was given the hangers for the vehicles. Believe me though, I was not glad that I was given this job. But it seemed better than heading back into a barracks full of people who would all had the sudden urge to shoot me. So with that in mind I was grateful that Varrot managed to give me this post. Though, there was something egging me. Why was Varrot going through all of this for me? I was just an American volunteer within the Militia, and only a Corporal at that. I was nobody special. I might have been one once, but that was a while ago. Now I was some low ranking drone who was being accused by his fellow squadmates of being a German spy. Why would she do all of this for me? I remembered that...mainly due to the fact that she never gave me an answer that night." - Jack Lawrence_

In the calm and quiet night, Jack cautiously patrolled the hangers with his rifle in hand, his immediate surrounding lit only by the light from the moon. Despite the calm that came with this duty, he often found the peace and quiet to be boring and dull. The life he led was most likely the cause of this. From his travels abroad with his father, to the Soviet-American War, and now the war in Europe between the Gallians and the Germans. It simply made any kind of quiet seem deathly dull to him and only make him crave for something to do in order to get over it. But at least it distanced himself from the rest of Squad 7, for at the present time was very grateful.

It seemed like he had gotten his wish when he passed by the open doors of one of the hangers and heard some noises coming from inside. He paused and took a few steps closer to make sure he wasn't just hearing things. When the he heard those sounds again, it confirmed his suspicions. Someone was definitely still inside the hanger, long after when everyone else had turned in for the night. He slowly crept his way into the hanger, slowing his pace to try and make as little noise as possible. He didn't know if the person in the hanger was a Gallian or German saboteur, but if it was the later he didn't want to spook him and run off. So for now all he had to do was make sure that he approached the person as quietly as he possibly could. As he got closer, the noises he had heard earlier became more clear and distinct. It sounded like someone was doing some kind of work on the tanks with a variety of tools. Either someone was doing some late night maintenance, or was trying to sabotage the tanks. Hopefully it was the first one.

As Jack moved further into the hanger, it soon became clear that the source of the noise was originating from the _Edelweiss_ of all places. When he got to the tank, he noticed how the turret hatch was opened and there was a faint blue light emanating from inside. Jack cocked the bolt of his rifle quietly as he carefully climbed up on board the _Edelweiss_. When he got to the turret, he took a few quick breaths before with one quick motion he looked down into the turret hatch and pointed his rifle though it, ready to shoot at any German saboteur he would see inside.

"Alright you bleeding kraut come out with-" shouted Jack but stopped when he saw who it was. It wasn't a German saboteur, but Isara Gunther. She was hunched over and working away on the wiring of the tank's controls. Her face was covered in sweat and soot, the former from probably working a long time and the latter from working on the engine of the _Edelweiss_. She had beside her a Ragnite lamp which was giving off a blue light to illuminate the dark inside of the _Edelweiss_ so that she could do her work. But what Jack couldn't figure out was why she was working on the tank at this late hour. It was getting close to midnight. She should be in her bunk sleeping away, not doing maintenance work upon the _Edelweiss_. She was the only tank driver capable of driving this tank. She wouldn't be much use to Squad 7 if she goes into a battle sleep deprived.

"Hey, kid. What the hell are you doing up so late?" asked Jack, demanding an answer. Isara didn't answer back. Not one single word.

"Are you deaf down there? Is my voice not high enough?" questioned Jack, with a louder voice than before since her silence was beginning to annoy him. She didn't say a word, turn her head, or react at all to his questions. Almost as if...she was ignoring him on purpose. And Jack had a pretty good idea as to what.

"Oh, I see then. You deciding to play the silent game with me because of what I said earlier? Huh? Not going to speak to me anymore?" he judged, and still Isara remained silent. Though she did pause for just a brief moment before going back to work. Jack took this as a 'yes' since it was the first kind of response he had gotten out of her since this conversation started. So he had one card left to play which would likely cause her to say something.

"Just to let you know, I'm not leaving here until you come out. And if you don't come out, I will personally come in there and drag your sorry ass out. So what's it going to be? We going to do this the easy way, or the hard way?" he asked, waiting one final time for some kind of answer from Isara. He finally got what he had wanted when Isara dropped her tools, got back up on her feet, and began to climb out of the _Edelweiss_. Jack climbed back down and stood in front of the tank, waiting for Isara to climb down as well. As she climbed down her legs buckled a bit, probably from the long hours she had spent doing maintenance inside. However she still managed to get down from the tank and onto the ground right in front of Jack.

"Okay, what are doing in the _Edelweiss _at this hour?"questioned Jack, looking down on Isara. Despite the two year age difference between the two, Jack was nearly as tall as Welkin. That made him at least a full head higher than Isara.

"I'd ask you the same thing," shot back Isara, staring right at him.

"I asked you first. Spill it kid," ordered Jack.

Isara let out a sigh before answering truthfully "I'm working on the _Edelweiss_. It still needs some work done."

"It's almost midnight. Can't you do it say...in the morning when everyone else is awake?" suggested Jack, still slightly confused as to why she chose to do it now.

"I prefer to work on the _Edelweiss_ whenever I can. We never know when we'll need it so I have to keep it in top condition. Now why are you up?" explained Isara before getting right down to asking Jack the questions.

Jack pointed to the rifle slung over his shoulder before explaining "Varrot placed me on guard duty tonight. I'm in charge of patrolling the vehicle hangers. I heard noises coming out of this hanger and decided to investigate. I come in and I find you up after hours working on the tank. That answer your question? Cause if it does then you should go to bed and I should get back to my job."

Jack began to walk away but was stopped by Isara who grabbed at his duster and tugged on it a bit to show that this conversation wasn't over, much to Jack's displeasure. Jack turned back around to see Isara looking down and away from Jack, swaying from back to forth as she tried to get the courage to say what she wanted to say. Whatever it was, apparently was something embarrassing since by the way she was acting it made it easy for Jack to figure that bit of information out in an instant. After a few more moments of silence, Isara finally opened up and asked "I'm going to ask this very bluntly. Just...don't get offended when I ask but...can we talk a bit more about you and your...friend?"

Jack could only groan at the question Isara had just asked him. He had hoped that they would be done for the day, and now here he was getting sucked right back into this dreaded conversation. As much as Jack wanted to not answer, the way that Isara was looking at him with those innocent looking eyes only made him wish to tell her so that she would stop looking at him like that. Her staring was starting to bother him. So he simply just blurted out and asked her "All right take up a seat. What do you want to hear?"

Isara climbed upon the front hull of the _Edelweiss_ and sat gingerly as she asked him the first question "Okay well...when was the last time that you saw him?"

"A little after last Christmas until a few days after New Years," answered Jack.

Isara pondered that information in her head. Around Christmas last year Jack was trying to arrange for travel to take him back to the United States to see his family in New York City again. But unfortunately, every plane in Gallia was grounded due to a big snowstorm that hit the country, and there were no ships willing to leave the ports until after the storm had subsided. But by the time the storm would end, Christmas would be over. Jack was pretty depressed since everyone else at the University of Randgriz would be able to see their families while he was stuck in a foreign land unable to see his. Welkin noticed this and in his never ending kindness, offered Jack to stay by his place for the holidays and celebrate Christmas with his family. Jack agreed to the invitation, traveling to Bruhl the next day. Despite not being with his family for Christmas, he was still able to enjoy himself with his two friends. The day after Christmas he received a phone call saying that there was a personal matter he had to attend to before he came back. He left that day and returned back a little after New Years.

Isara managed to sum up in her head that he saw Lelouch during that time period. But there was one thing on her mind as to that scenario. She asked Jack "Why did you see him then?"

"He was getting married to his childhood sweetheart, sweet girl by the way, and I decided that I would surprise them and attend the wedding," he explained to her truthfully.

"You were at his wedding?" questioned Isara.

"I was Lelouch's best man," Jack openly admitted. This surprised Isara a bit as her eyes suddenly widened a bit.

"Yeah, yeah, I know it's a shock. I'll admit that it's something that you don't hear often, a Nazi Prince and an American war hero being best friends and all that. But know this: I wouldn't become friends with him if I didn't think he was a terrible person. He is the one Royal in the Reich's history who is the exact opposite of the Nazi Ideology. He's one of the best people I've ever met. I mean sure, he can be a bit arrogant, thinks that the ends justify the means and all that. But no matter what, he really is a good person. He's just...had some bad things happen in his life. And besides, did I ever appear to you as the kind of guy who hated Darcsens like any other Nazi to you?" explained Jack, making his point clear to Isara.

Isara thought over that in her head. It's true that Jack was always nice to her despite being a Darcsen. And he had always treated everyone he met with kindness and would often defend what he believed in as well as others. A typical American, he believed in his nations belief of equality and freedom. And he often did criticize the Nazi Empire for what he deemed them as 'ungodly people who are nearing the end of their reign'. Isara then realized how much of a fool she has been. Jack was a person that she had long considered a true friend, and she should have stood by that when everyone else had turned against him. It saddened Isara a little bit and she suddenly wrapped her arms around Jack in an attempt to try and reconcile some way. Jack simply patted her on the head to acknowledge her actions. Apparently he knew what she was trying to tell him through her body language.

When Isara broke her hug, she looked to Jack and apologized "I'm sorry for how I acted earlier."

Jack simply gave out a light laugh before responding back "No problem kiddo. Let's just forget about this crazy episode today. How about we both just go to bed for now eh?"

"Maybe later. I still have things to work on for the _Edelweiss_," noted Isara climbing onto the tank to get back inside and continue her work.

"I'm not leaving here until you come out of there and move your rear back to the barracks," said Jack.

"Then you'll be here all night," joked Isara, closing the turret hatch of the _Edelweiss_. Jack opened his mouth to argue once more but by the time that he was about to speak the hatch was already closed. His mouth closed almost instantly, and a feeling of defeat washed over him. He knew how stubborn Isara was and no matter what Jack would say to try and convince her to leave with him, she would put up a fight with her words until she inevitably won. That was one of the things that Jack admired about her. She always stood by her beliefs, no matter what people did to try and convince her otherwise. But on the other hand it also made her annoying as hell to deal with on certain issues. She would hold onto her point of view so much that it would just drive you crazy at how the conversation was going. But then again, that was just one of the quirks that made Isara who she was.

Knowing that if he continued to argue with her it would lead him absolutely nowhere, Jack decided upon an alternative course of action. He climbed up and laid down in the back of the _Edelweiss_, making himself comfortable as he settled in for a good night's sleep. He figured that the Germans were not likely to mount any kind of attack on Fort Amaranthine tonight, at least not tonight specifically. And since it was his duty to guard the hangers, which he was in, he doubted that anybody would care. And even if someone did find him, with the current state of the war and how close the Germans were coming to winning despite the victory at Vasel Bridge, they would be more focused on that then Jack sleeping on guard duty. In dire times like this, people were far too focused on the big picture and were far too willing to look past discipline issues and soldiers sleeping off on duty.

Plus, Isara stated that she wasn't going to leave until she was done with maintenance on the _Edelweiss_. And if past experience has taught him anything is that it'll take up hours upon hours until she was finally satisfied. Jack couldn't just leave her there all alone. So he figured that by staying he could keep her company until she would eventually wake up and wander back to the barracks. With that in his mind, Jack covered his eyes with his helmet, placed his rifle beside him, and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

_April 18, 1935_

_The Next Morning 0945 hours (9:45 am)_

Welkin had awoken this morning with mixed feelings about what had happened last night, with the revelation of Jack's friendship with Prince Lelouch vi Britannia of Germania, their enemy. And that was quite evident with the look plastered upon the young man's face. Inside his head, Welkin was battling with his thoughts and feelings as he walked down the hallway of the main building. On one hand he wanted to still be friends with Jack. He had always shown his loyalty to them and was a good person to call a comrade. But on the other hand, his friendship brought his character into suspicion. How could it not be possible that Jack is in fact a German spy? Was all his talk of his loyalty to country and friends just that: talk? The thought of that turned his stomach. He thought he truly knew Jack, that he truly knew anything about the man. But it seemed like this was all just a lie.

Theses thoughts battled each other back in forth as Welkin tried to figure out a way to solve this dilemma. If he supported Jack then he might lose the Squad's respect since they no longer trusted him at all. And if he treated Jack like the spy everyone else thinks he is, then he would end up with losing a very dear friend. No matter what choice he picked, neither one of them seemed pleasing to him. He was still deep in thought about this when he felt someone tap him on the right shoulder. He turned to see that Alicia was the one beside him with a smile. But when she saw how somber Welkin was, her smile quickly disappeared.

Out of concern for Welkin, she asked him "What's the matter Welkin?"

"I'm thinking about what happened with Jack," he admitted with a heavy sigh.

Alicia nodded her head slightly as she could see where he was coming from. This whole event was something that nobody saw coming nor liked even the slightest. She replied back "I know what you mean. You know...I actually thought you would have had some clue about this."

"Really? What makes you say that?" asked Welkin, slightly puzzled by her comment.

"Well, out of all of us in Squad 7, you've known him longer than any one of us. It just stems to reason that he might have told you something," she explained.

Welkin let out a small chuckle before responding "I don't think it would be in a spies best interest, assuming Jack even is one, to tell someone that he is a spy."

"That is true," noted Alicia. Alicia then noticed that everyone in the hallway that they passed and were coming up were all in groups of three or two and engaged in a deep conversation. She didn't get to hear much of the conversation but she did hear a few words and snippets from those she passed by that popped out at her. Those words and snippets were as follows: Spy...Traitor...Nazi Collaborator...and American volunteer for the Gallian Militia. Alicia could only figure one reason as for what that meant.

"People know about Jack then?" she asked, hoping for just the one small chance that she was wrong.

To her dismay Welkin answered her question with "Yep. Looks like a few people in the squad started blabbering that bit of information out in the open. The news of this is spreading fast among the troops now as we speak."

Welkin could only figure that this was the last thing that Jack wanted. If there was one thing that every human being in the world was ever susceptible to it was gossip. And gossip that said that an American volunteer with the Gallian Militia was friends with a German Prince was something that nobody could resist to tell others. And if word had already spread throughout the Gallian military this fast, it would only be a matter of time until General Damon and the rest of High Command hears about this. And when they hear about this, then things for Jack would really get bad.

It wasn't as if Gallia's Generals would believe idle gossip for it would be a complete and utter waste of time if they did that. But since they were now at war and facing defeat, they may take this seriously and think that Jack was a spy. And with the major defeats and the high losses that were inflicted on the Gallians it wouldn't be hard to believe. They would likely arrest Jack on suspicion of espionage and have him tried. When it comes to spies, Nazi spies in particular, Jack would either be sent to prison for the rest of his life or be executed by a firing if he was put on trial, it may end up going badly for Gallia. Jack was an American, and they didn't take it kindly when one of their citizens were executed or imprisoned overseas. When it came to their people being charged overseas for high crimes, they preferred that the trial be carried out on _American _soil as well as having the sentence being served in an _American_ prison.

Plus Jack was an important person to the American public. He was a war hero, had celebrity status among the people, son of one of America's most prominent families, the youngest son of the American Secretary of State, and a hero to a hell of a lot of people. If he was put on trial it would turn into the mother of all political nightmares in history. Americans all over will be in complete outrage by a trial. They would demand that he'd be released immediately and all charges against him to be dropped. And if the Gallian government didn't comply with the orders, the Americans may take more drastic action. They could threaten to pull all their support for the Gallian war effort. This means all the supplies, the vehicles, the Ragnite, everything they were shipping to Gallia could dry up just like that. This would leave Gallia in a very precarious state as they were counting on the American supplies in order to survive. And if they stopped coming in then that meant Gallia's defeat may become all the more certain.

That was certainly an unpleasant thought that was interrupted by the sight of another Militia soldier approaching them. When he got to them, he gave Welkin a quick salute before informing, "Lieutenant Gunther Sir, may I have permission to speak?"

"Granted. What's this about?" asked Welkin, giving him a salute in reply.

"It's about your Yankee recruit. The one everyone's talking about," the Militiaman answered truthfully.

"You mean the one everyone is accusing of being a spy for the Nazis?" inquired Alicia.

"Yes ma'am. Though I'm not one for gossip. I fear that he may be in trouble," he mentioned.

Alarmed by the news, Welkin asked the Militiaman out of concern "What do you mean?"

The Militiaman wasted no time in explaining for he said "A little while ago, I overheard two Lieutenants talking about him. Apparently they heard the rumors about him and are going to 'have a talk with him'."

"Did you get their names? Where were they heading?" asked Alicia, peppering him with questions.

"I think that their names were Faldio Landzaat and Mary Read. And they were heading in the direction of the vehicle hangers. Are you going-" explained the soldier but before he could finish his sentence he was cut off by Welkin and Alicia who bolted past him as they ran as fast as they could towards the vehicle hangers. Despite all the doubts they may have about Jack at the moment, they weren't just going to let him get clobbered by a bunch of people out of anger and distrust.

* * *

Jack layed upon the back of the _Edelweiss_, just stirring out of his slumber. With a deep yawn he stretched his arms and legs, wiggling them around a little to get the feeling back in them. Once he was done, he noticed something odd. He was still on the tank. He expected Isara too wake him up and inform him that she was going back to the barracks when she was done. Yet he distinctly remember that she didn't at all last night. He decided to check the interior of the tank to see if she was still there. It's not as if he expected her to be still awake and working on the Edelweiss because of two reasons. One, nobody could work _this _long without feeling tired, and two, there was a possibility that she was till inside the tank, all asleep.

In fact, when he opened up the hatch he could see Isara plain as daylight. She was lying upon the floor of the tank's interior fast asleep with a green wool blanket covering her. She looked so peaceful and cute like that it brought a smile onto Jack's face. It was the first time he had smiled in the past few days. He was glad that Isara had managed to calm his fears. At least he had one friend in Squad 7 left, for one could help make all the difference.

_Ah, I'll just let her sleep for a while longer. I think she's earned it, _he thought as he closed up the tank hatch and hopped off the _Edelweiss_ once he had picked back up his rifle. However once he got back down upon the ground, his situation changed drastically. Suddenly and out of nowhere, a pair of hands grabbed him by his blue duster and slammed Jack onto the side of the tank. Jack looked to see who it was that was pinning him down only to see an upset Faldio being the one that was grabbing him along with a Lieutenant Read who stood on Faldio's right and looking as equally upset. At that moment thoughts were running through Jack's head as to his current situation. The most prominent one being 'What the hell did I do now to piss these two off?'.

"Um...hello? Nice weather we're having?" inquired Jack. Probably not his smartest move, but he had no other ideas. He just wanted to start things off on a good start and try not to make them any more angry.

"You are one hell of a bastard you know that Lawrence?" asked Read in a very stern and serious tone. Clearly Jack's comment did very little to defuse the tension. And he was still confused as to what they were so angry about.

"You are a lot of things Jack. But the one thing about you I didn't expect was to be a goddamn Nazi agent!" exclaimed Faldio, suddenly giving Jack the piece of information he needed. Jack slumped his head forward slightly upon hearing Faldio's comment. It was clear that he and Read had heard about Jack's friendship with Lelouch. This also means that if they knew about it so did half the fort and the Randgriz garrison by now. _I am never going to hear the end of this, _he thought with complete dread.

Wanting to get this part of what would likely be a whole long list of incidents that would follow, he leveled his head, looked straight at Faldio and explained very clearly "Look I may be friends with a German Prince, but that doesn't make me a spy!"

"Of course it does! What American in his right mind would be friends with a Nazi Royal?!" claimed Read, not believing what she was hearing.

"Apparently this one," said Jack with a smile as he pointed to himself. He didn't know why he was smiling, but at least it was a point in his favor for his day.

"Faldio! Read! What the hell are you doing?!" shouted a distant female voice. All three heads turned to see Welkin and Alicia running towards stopped just short of them with Faldio releasing his grip on Jack's duster at the same time.

"Welkin stay out of this, we got this," warned Faldio, noting his seriousness.

"By 'got this' you mean 'pummel Jack to a bloody pulp'? You can't do that Faldio!" corrected Welkin.

"Even if Jack is a spy, you can't attack him unless he attacks back. It's just dishonorable," noted Alicia, trying to bring some sense to the two of them. Gallia had a strict policy about following the Geneva convention. And she remembered from her days in high school that one part of it said that high value enemy prisoners such as spies were not to be harmed unless they fire upon their would be captors.

Jack however was surprised that Alicia and Welkin were coming to his rescue. Being curious, he asked them both "Does the fact that you two so gallantly rushed to help me mean you forgive me?"

All four surprised him when Jack when they turned to face him and shouted almost in unison "NOT NOW!" before turning back to each other. Jack jumped a little bit by the action which caused his helmet to briefly jump up with him. Jack readjusted it back while the others were focused upon their argument. _My life just keeps getting more and more interesting by the minute, _thought Jack as he looked upon the scene before him. Two Lieutenants, arguing with another Lieutenant and a Sergeant about his choices. If one would look at Jack's life right now, they could probably write it down, turn it into a movie, and make a fortune.

"I can't trust him Welkin. Not after this. And nothing you say is going to convince me otherwise. He's a traitor. To us and his homeland," claimed Read.

What she said was the final straw for Jack. Being called a German spy got on his nerves that was true. But call him a traitor to America, and he who said it will have crossed the line. If Jack was one thing, he was a patriot. He swore on his life that he'd never go against his homeland, his family, or the beliefs on which he grew up in. And he had been known to punch people for claiming that he was a traitor. Say that his friendship with Lelouch vi Britannia was a cause for concern he'd understand, say that there was a chance that people would accuse him of being a spy he'd understand, but calling him a traitor was a step to far and Jack would have none of it. Period.

With a series of quick and swift movements, he grabbed Read's collar tightly and pulled her close. Looking angrily into her eyes, he said to her in a deep and menacing voice "Look here you noble piece of shit. You'd better be careful when calling me a traitor, especially now. In the past few days I have been shot at, nearly blown up, crushed under a giant's foot, ostracized from my unit, and nearly executed by a crazy Darcsen _SS_ Lieutenant. So if you have a problem, say it right now to my face. Because I don't care about what happens next. I have had a shitty day already, so what else can possibly go wrong now?"

As if on cue, a high pitched wailing sound filled the air. It grabbed everyone's attention as the group looked on to see both Regulars and Militia soldiers scramble all around as if they were preparing for the coming storm. And they might as well be because that sound was coming from Fort Amaranthine's air raid siren. And from past experience, when that thing went off it meant that there was a German bomber squadron with fighter support flying towards the capital to bomb the ruined city once more into a pile of rubble.

Not believing his luck, Jack let go of Read's collar and begun ranting on and on with his voice being drowned out by the siren "Well this is just fantastic! I ask for what worse can happen, and a fucking air raid starts! If this is God's way of showing his sense of humor, well I'll say this: He has very poor taste in comedy!"

It was at that moment that Isara opened the turret hatch and popped out. Apparently it was the sound of the siren that eventually waked her up. She gave a long yawn and rubbed her eyes before looking at the others and asking in a low and tired voice "What's going on Welks?"

Jack simply turned at her and yelled "Where the hell were you in this conversation earlier?!"

* * *

**Things just keep getting more an more interesting. Next chapter will be Squad 7 taking on the might of the Nazi _Luftwaffe. _Can't wait to see what happens next.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	29. The Luftwaffe Approaches

_(Note: I do no own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_"The air raid that took place on April 18, 1935 was the largest and most devastating of the war. Hundreds of German bombers and fighters from the Luftwaffe attacked Randgriz on that day, and with destructive results. It came so sudden and without warning that the Gallians had to scramble all their personnel in the area just to meet the threat. The German bombers destroyed many building and damaged many more while the fighters and dive bombers strafed the streets and emplacements with machine gun and cannon fire, killing many soldiers and civilians in the progress. Even though the Germans caused much devastation, they did not get away with what they did without encountering some resistance along the way. Gallian anti-aircraft batteries, a few fighter planes from the GRAC, as well as a few more improvised weapons were brought into play to defend the capital from the Nazi air assault. That and another few surprises happened during the battle as well. _

_Though the destruction brought upon the capital by the bombs that were dropped upon the city was well remembered, it was also the start of a series of events that were some of the most important of the whole world. The raid that took place on that day was so intense that it became to be known as "The Air Battle of Randgriz" by military historians. But to veterans of that war like me and those of Squad 7, we called it by another name: "The Raid That Came From Hell"." -Jack Lawrence_

The sirens blared on as loud as they could for what seemed like an endless eternity. And all over Fort Amaranthine, soldiers from both the Gallian Regulars and the Militia scrambled about around the base in order to board trucks that would bring them to Randgriz. If there was a _Luftwaffe_ air raid on the way, the capital was going to need everything they could muster in order to repel the enemy aircraft. And that meant that Fort Amaranthine had to send whatever personnel it could spare for the capital. Each of the soldiers grabbed their weapons and gear from their lockers before they left the base however. They brought them in the need that they would need them to help shoot down the German planes.

This was due to the fact that the anti-aircraft batteries stationed in Randgriz were already strained from the constant air raids that the Germans were unleashing onto the city. The city was hit by a bug raid on the day when the war began, and since then the city has been continually hit by a force of a few fighters and bombers every day and night continually. And the AA crews were continually being charged to shoot them down. And even though they managed to shoot a few planes down every few raids now and then, it wasn't enough to stem the tide of this battle which the Gallians weren't winning.

And from what they've found out from their radar systems, which picked this up when the _Luftwaffe_ formation entered range of their scanners, is that this time the Germans are sending out a large force of bombers, dive bombers, fighters, and ground attack aircraft at them. The most accurate estimate they could make was that force numbered in the hundreds, maybe even a thousand. If the Gallians were going to take on this many aircraft, they would need any weapon they can gather up on short notice. This meant that the Gallian infantry would end up having to fire rounds from their small arms at any German plane that flew close enough. However this choice was highly unlikely to have any effect on the coming fight. The fighters were the only planes which would be low enough for ground based infantry to be able to hit them with their guns, but they would be flying to fast for any of Gallian bullets to do any real damage. They would simply have to rely on their AA guns and the GRAC, if they could spare any fighters which were in very few numbers already, and the Gallian troops rushing to aid the soon to be besieged capital.

* * *

**"THIS IS NOT A DRILL! REPEAT! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! ALL HANDS, PREPARE FOR COMBAT! AERIAL ASSAULT INBOUND! ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS!" **sounded the PA as Squad 7 along with a few other Gallian squads made their way towards the vehicles. Hustling as fast as their legs could carry them, they were soon stopped by Captain Varrot who was standing next to the trucks and a U.S. supplied Jeep with a .50 caliber machine gun mount in the back. The trucks were empty except with the Jeep which had both a driver and a gunner for the .50 caliber machine gun. Standing alongside her was Jack who had his gear on him as well with carrying in his hands a Mags-M4 sub-machine gun. Varrot signaled for them to stop before they could get in which they did. However Varrot did it so suddenly that many halted without saying a word causing many to bump into them, almost causing a few to fall over. When they were all settled and finished, they looked to Varrot who began to brief them on the mission at hand.

"Alright, since time is of the essence here I'll try to make this brief. The Nazis have launched a large group of aircraft against us. We believe that this is retaliation for their defeat at Vasel," said Varrot.

"How many are we expecting Captain?" asked Largo.

"From what our radar managed to pick up we've estimated that it's a large force, most likely about a few hundred planes in total. And they've separated the planes into two groups waves. The first wave will consist primarily of bombers with fighter escorts. The second wave is following behind them and they're mostly fighters, fighter bombers, and ground attack aircraft but they also have a few bombers with them as well," explained Varrot, noting the grim news she had to deliver.

Several of the squad member's jaws dropped upon hearing the news. Rosie was the first to recover from the news and asked hysterically "Are you kidding me?!"

To say that the mission sounded like complete suicide would have been a gross understatement. The Squad was trained to take on infantry and tanks, not bombers and fighter planes. None of them had any clear idea as to how they could take down one plane let alone hundreds. It just didn't seem possible for them to accomplish such a feat. Welkin knew this well enough and pleaded to Varrot "Ma'am, we aren't trained for this. Is Squad 7 really needed for this assignment?"

Varrot nodded her head in confirmation before answering "Yes it does Lieutenant. Due to the current state of the war, the Germans have our forces stretched thin everywhere. The garrison we have defending Randgriz is already undermanned as it is. They have to man the AA defenses, keep the peace within the city, as well as get the remaining civilians in Randgriz to safety in the underground subway tunnels during each raid. With this attack they are going to need all the help that they can receive. It's all hands on deck for this operation. Our orders are to ship every available soldier to Randgriz at one to help with the defense."

"And when you say 'every available soldier', you mean that I have to go as well?" asked a curious Jack, though he already knew the answer.

"Yes Corporal, that means you go along as well. That is why I asked you to gather your equipment," said Varrot confirming what Jack had already suspected. Almost immediately, the entire squad was in uproar over the decision, shouting and arguing all at once to the Captain. If Jack truly was a German spy, then none of them wanted him to come along for this mission. For if he did, then there was a possibility that he could stab them in the back and cause all of them to suffer a terrible end. Their cries were quietly silenced when Varrot place two fingers into her mouth and whistled in a high pitch tone that caused everyone to instantly become silent.

As Varrot took the fingers out of her mouth, she looked over Squad 7 and announced to them all "I know that by now none of you trust the Corporal. But until someone says otherwise he is a member of your squad. So he is going with you on this mission. No excuses or exceptions. Am I understood?"

Varrot took the unanimous silence of the whole squad as a 'yes' to her question. She then signaled for them to carry on with boarding the trucks. They all climbed up onto the trucks, taking seats on either side of the flatbed in the back. Jack waited until the very end to get on and when he did he opted to join the one with Welkin, Alicia, Largo, and Rosie inside which was the same as the other truck aside from the large canvas covering that covered those who sat in the truck. Despite the feeling of wariness coming from each them, Jack still took up a seat near the rear of the truck before pulling up the hinged tailgate panel in the back and securing it shut. Varrot stood at the back of their truck, faced them, and was about to salute them off but before that happened a Gallian Militia soldier approached her and whispered something into her ear. From what Welkin could tell it was bad news as the expression upon her face changed completely in a flash.

"Something bad happen didn't it Captain?" asked Largo, bracing himself for the worst of news that she could possibly tell them.

Varrot was silent for a few moments before finally coming clean and admitting "The first wave of _Luftwaffe_ planes have already struck Randgriz." Nobody in the truck said a word but on their faces was evident that they were clearly shocked and saddened a bit by the announcement. It appeared that they were already too late and that the raid had already begun. And in their minds each of them were imagining what kind of destruction that the bombers had brought onto the city and how many lives have been lost in the resulting wave of _Luftwaffe_ bombers.

Alicia was the first to speak up again when she asked Varrot "How much time until the next wave hits the city?"

"I'd say about fifteen minutes, give or take a few minutes," answered Varrot.

Alicia looked over to the others in the truck and noted "If we leave now we might be able to make it towards the city before they hit back again."

"Then let's get going," agreed Welkin who then pounded on the wall behind the driver, signaling them to get moving. The engine on the truck soon roared to life with a mighty rev. The drivers in the other trucks soon followed suit and turned their engines on as well. Welkin's truck suddenly lurched forward with the other trucks following close behind with the jeep in the rear as the convoy drove out the main gates and onto the winding road that headed straight to Randgriz which was several miles away. Varrot watched as Squad 7 drove away in in her thoughts she did happen to worry about them. In the short time that she has had them under her command, they have already demonstrated that they are exceptional in their jobs. They had already won a great victory at Vasel and saved a VIP that helped secure an alliance between Gallia and the Archanean Liberation Front, and all without losing a single person. She didn't want to send them out there against the enemy, but she had no choice. Everyone was needed for defending the capital and it was all hands on deck for this operation. She could only hope that the luck from Vasel and Mullow would rub off on them in this mission. With a clicking of her heels, she gave them a salute as the jeep passed through the gates which were closed right behind them.

"Godspeed Lieutenant," she muttered softly as the gates finally closed.

* * *

_On the Road, ETA to Randgriz: Five Minutes_

"How bad do you suppose that raid was?" asked Alicia, looking at Largo with a look of concern. Hearing of the bombing raid only made her remember the day when the war started. When on the fifteenth of March she saw her hometown bombed by German planes just before the _Wehrmacht_ came rolling in and seized the town within a matter of hours. She could still remember the sirens made by the Stuka's as they descended from the sky and the mighty booms from the explosions made by the bombs that they dropped onto Bruhl. No matter how hard she tried, Alicia just couldn't get that memory to go away. It was as if it was seared into her memories permanently. She wondered if there was any chance at all that this memory would ever go away.

"Knowing the krauts I'd say that a whole lot of the city is no longer standing," answered Largo.

"Well what did you expect? To these guys their national pastime is to either blow stuff up or burn it to the ground," commented Rosie, doing a final check on her Mags-M4 sub-machine gun.

"Yup. It does seem that way when it comes to them," noted Jack as he loaded a fresh magazine into his gun as well.

"Heh. You would know something about that wouldn't you?" shot back Rosie, with a hint of venom in her words.

Jack could only roll his eyes at her comment. He figured that they would bring this up again on this mission whether it would be during or after. Now that they had gotten started they would not drop it until something important would happen. Jack decided to just ignore them and stay quiet because he was getting tired of having to explain himself to these people who were accusing him of being a spy. So he just set about working on his gun and keeping it ready for the fight, hoping they would just ignore them. Unfortunately for him, they did the exact opposite.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?" questioned Rosie, expecting an answer. But again, Jack remained quiet as a mouse.

Now Rosie was getting annoyed. She was waiting for a word to escape from Jack's lips but all she was getting was squat from him. In an attempt to finally get him to respond she reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder and shook for a little bit but nothing happened. He just looked out to the countryside, apparently staring into space, completely oblivious to all around him. She soon gave up and just let out a scoff before stating "Well this is just perfect. Now he's just annoying me."

"Well what did you expect? Kid hasn't said much to anyone since yesterday. At least any that I know of," noted Largo. Suddenly a thought popped into his head. When everybody was boarding the truck, he remembered how it seemed like all of Squad 7 was present. But now that he thought about it, Largo noticed how they seemed to be missing one: the Lieutenant's sister Isara. She would normally be right beside her brother or in the Edelweiss whenever they went into a fight. But since they couldn't bring the tank for this one, that meant that she should be with Welkin. And yet she wasn't here at all.

Curious as to why that was, he looked to Welkin and asked him plainly "Hey boss, how come your sister isn't here? She in another truck?"

"Actually no. I asked Captain Varrot earlier if Isara could stay back at the base for this one and she agreed," answered Welkin.

"Why's that? Usually the two of you seem to be inseparable," commented Alicia, noting how close the two siblings were.

"Because I don't want to lose her. This mission, not to mention this war is going to be dangerous. I just want to keep her safe is all," he explained with a slight look of worry on his face.

Alicia understood where Welkin was coming from. Since both of his parents were gone, Isara was most likely the only family that Welkin had left in the world. And in this war there were no guarantees that everyone in Squad 7 was going to come out of this war alive which might happen considering the enemy that they were up against. It was only natural that Welkin would act like the big brother he is and try to keep his little sister safe from harm. That's probably why she was usually maintaining and driving the _Edelweiss_ instead of fighting with a rifle. Though Alicia was pretty sure of one thing however if Welkin was trying to have Isara stay behind at the base while everyone goes out.

"Well I doubt that Isara took that well," figured Alicia, explaining to Welkin with a small grin on her face.

"You're right on that. Isara was always a stubborn one. I actually had to handcuff her to a pipe in order to finally convince her to stay," admitted Welkin with Alicia letting out a chuckle at his comment.

Meanwhile Jack, who was now looking out the side of the truck staring into space saw something that caught his eye. And from the look on his face, it wasn't a very pleasant thing that he saw. For his eyes widened in shock and his mouth opened slightly for what he was seeing was truly a terrible sight. Wanting to get the others to notice what he saw, he simply blurted out of his mouth "Um, guys" and pointed his finger on the horizon in front of him. The others immediately heard him and looked to where he was pointing, and when they saw what Jack was seeing their faces soon turned into the same expression as well.

On the horizon less than a mile away, they saw the city of Randgriz, or what was left of it. Pillars of smoke were billowing from the city, indicating where the bombing raid that had passed by earlier had struck. Most of the tall, white stone walls that surrounded the city was still intact minus a few portions on the top of the wall, blocking their view of the interior of the city. It made it impossible to know what kind of damage the raid did to the city until they actually got inside. But from what they could tell from what they saw so far was that the damage was most likely extensive.

* * *

Inside the castle walls, their convoy stopped in a large, square shaped, open courtyard that was less than a few blocks from a large factory that had managed to avoid most of the bombings despite taking some damage itself. Much of the ground was littered with ruble and debris from the ruined buildings that surrounded it. Though most had some part of their structure still standing, there were a few buildings that had been reduced to little more than a massive pile of bricks. There was black smoke coming out of one of the buildings indicating that it had caught fire from one of the bombs that hit it. All around them there were dead Gallian soldiers being pulled out of the rubble along with a few civilian bodies as well. Any that were still alive were being transported into the makeshift medical center that the military had set up underground in the subway tunnels. When the bombing started, the subway systems were shut down in order to turn the stations and the tunnels into bomb shelters for the population to hide in whenever the _Luftwaffe_ showed up. The frequency of the raids caused most of the population to simply stay within the tunnels most of the day, only going out onto the surface when it was safe. The Gallian military had soon set up soup kitchens and medical centers there since then. But still a few people decided to stay on the surface within their own homes, and more and more of them ended up being killed as the bombings intensified.

As the squad disembarked from the trucks and entered the courtyard (except for Jack who noticed something earlier) they looked upon the carnage that surrounded them. The ground they walked upon was covered in a mixture of dirt, dust, and blood. They had seen pictures similar to this from their textbooks at school whenever they discussed about the bombing raids that occurred on British and French towns by early German bombers during the Great War. It seemed bad in their books, but to see it up close was a different sight altogether. To veterans like Largo, this was something that he had seen all to often, making him used to seeing things like this. But to those like Welkin, Alicia and most of the others this was something new...new and horrible to see with their own eyes. This was another example of the horrors of war that has emerged in the years. And another example of the Nazi Empire's brutal measures that were being used as means to end the war, and perhaps the many more deaths that were going to happen before the war would end.

A shout from a nearby voice brought many back to the situation at hand. Welkin, Alicia, Largo, and Rosie looked to see Faldio and Read approaching them. When they both reached the squad, Welkin asked them "How bad was the raid?"

"Pretty bad, extensive damage throughout the residential, financial, commerce, and industrial districts of the city. Several more districts were hit as well as the docks but not as severe. Only places they didn't hit was Castle Randgriz and the Graz Bridges," explained Read. Since the start of the bombing raids of Randgriz, the Germans have been avoiding the palace for some strange reason, as if it was some kind of holy object that they were supposedly forbidden by God to hit. One common theory was that Byzantium wanted to keep the palace in one piece for his victory speech when his forces marched into the capital. Whatever the reason, the fact was that the castle was perhaps the only building in the city that wasn't hit throughout the entire war.

But one thing that truly puzzled people was why did they not touch the Graz Bridges. The Graz Bridges was in fact a series of five very large, very wide, and very long bridges that connected Randgriz to the other side of Lake Graz which on the banks was where the city was first built. Lake Graz also connected to the river that led straight to the port city of Antwerp, now occupied by the Germans. This made the river and the lake a vital trade hub for overseas travel as well as a shortcut for troops heading to the Central Front. But if the Germans knew this then why haven't they destroyed the bridges? It would make things harder for the Gallians if they did, which would only benefit the Germans. The answer to that question wasn't very clear, but it didn't matter at the present time.

"The Regulars are seeing to what remains of the AA batteries," explained Faldio.

"What's left of them?" asked Rosie.

"Yeah, looks like the _Luftwaffe_ managed to take out a portion of the batteries when they attacked. knocked out a good amount of our firepower. We'll have to use whatever we have left. Though I doubt that this will be enough," said Read with a hint of skepticism in her voice.

"Well this is just terrific, the one time we actually have the weapons we need to fight the Nazis, they blow up a bunch of them," mentioned Jack, taking his place between Rosie and Largo.

"What are you doing here?" inquired Faldio, clearly both angered and surprised that Jack was even here at all.

"The Captain said it was 'all hands on deck' for this one. She sent him along with us...though none of us really agreed to it," said Largo, admitting to Faldio how he still felt about Jack.

"Thanks for your opinion. And the reason why I am interrupting your little conversation is because I came to tell Welkin something," mentioned Jack.

"What is it?" asked Jack, wondering what he meant.

"Well...you know that compartment right behind the drivers seat on the truck that's the size of a large ammo crate? The one that sits on the floor between us and where the driver and passenger sit?" asked Jack, wondering what Welkin knew what he was talking about.

"Um, yes. They use them to store tools for repairing the truck or weapons and ammo for the troops they carry," said Welkin, confirming about what he knew about the area Jack was talking about.

"And people too. When you guys left I heard a noise coming from one of those compartments in one of our trucks and decided to take a look. Apparently we left the Fort with a stowaway," said Jack.

"Who was it?" questioned Alicia. It was then that Jack gestured with his hand for them to follow him. He was going to show them who it was instead of tell them. Possibly due to who the stowaway he was referring to. They all followed him to the end of one of their trucks. Jack told them to halt next to the side of the truck before Jack went to the back to bring out their stowaway that he had found earlier. He disappeared behind the truck and reemerged several seconds later dragging by the shawl one Isara Gunther. She had her head bowed down slightly in a sign of embarrassment and attached tightly onto her right wrist was a pair of handcuffs with the other end wrapped just as tightly upon a pipe about a foot long.

"Welkin...it might have been better if you had just locked her inside your office," commented Jack as he let go of Isara.

* * *

_Fifteen thousand feet above sea level_

_ ETA to Randgriz: Less than ten minutes_

High above the lands of Gallia, heading towards Randgriz was a large formation of almost several hundred German _Luftwaffe_ planes. This mixture of planes would make up the second wave of the latest German air assault on the Gallian capital. Different types of aircraft made up the German assault force, and each one was created by the _Luftwaffe_ to be the very best at their assigned roles.

The group of planes that made up the bulk of the formation was the standard German fighter plane, the Messerschmitt Bf 109. This plane made up the backbone of the German fighter planes within their air force. It was painted with the same color as that used by the uniform of the soldiers in the _Wehrmacht_, field-gray. It was armed with two MG42 machine guns in the nose of the plane along with two 20mm auto-cannons with one on each wing. As an added surprise, the designers also placed a 30mm auto-cannon in the hub of where the propellers were placed. German pilots often placed the black and white spiral there as a way to emphasize the gun. For the 109's, their duty for this raid was to provide cover in case any Gallian Royal Air Corps fighter planes appeared. And if they were not engaging any fighters, their secondary task was to perform strafing runs on any Gallian position they could find.

Next up was the Focke Wulf Fw 190, the _Luftwaffe's_ standard fighter bomber. It was slightly larger than the Bf 109 and had slightly tougher armor as well. It was painted in a tone of paint more grey than that of the 109's. They were armed with two MG42's in the nose as well as four 20mm auto-cannons, two in each wing. They were tasked with harassing the Gallian AA emplacements as well as hitting any other soft targets that the bombers missed as well. And if there were no other ground targets to hit, they were tasked with knocking out any Gallian planes along with the Bf 109's and protect the other bombers.

Then came the smaller but equally important dive bombers and bombers that the 190's and 109's were tasked with protecting as they attacked any hard targets such as the remaining factories, military emplacements, or just groups of infantry and tanks grouped together. First there was the Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers with their gulled wings and fixed landing gear. Each one carried two machine guns in the nose along with another one placed in the rear of the pilot which was to defend the plane from enemy aircraft coming in behind them. In addition to their standard armament each Stuka carried one 500lb bomb under the fuselage for hitting a target with precision along with with a 20mm underwing auto-cannon pods for additional support. These were essentially 20mm auto-cannons mounted under the wings of Stukas to give them extra firepower on certain missions such as this one.

Lastly there were the Heinkel He 111 medium bombers. These bombers were the mainstay of the German _Luftwaffe_, with the Nazi Empire producing thousands of these twin engine machines. They were the most recognizable German bombers due to the nose of the aircraft seemingly being made of glass, earning it the nickname 'Greenhouse'. It was crewed by five men and armed with seven MG42 machine guns placed in different positions on the aircraft to protect it from enemy fighters along with about 4,500 lbs of high explosive bombs. Despite the heavy armament the bomber possessed and the heavy armor, the bombers slow speed and poor maneuverability made it a sizable target for enemy fighters and antiaircraft guns. This meant that the 190's and 109's accompanying them on this mission will have to act as their protectors while they accomplish their part of the mission.

Out of the 330 planes that made up this formation, 100 were Bf 109's, another 100 were Fw 190's, 70 were Ju 87's, with the remaining 60 being He 111's. But what was interesting was that there was another plane within the formation, one that completely stood out from all the others in terms of what it truly was. Flying above the middle of the formation looking at all the planes that were beneath her was the pilot who was flying a prototype fighter for the German _Luftwaffe_. The aircraft she was piloting: was the prototype Me 262 jet powered fighter.

It was a new type of fighter plane, let alone a whole new style of aircraft, being tested by the Germans. Instead of the universally used piston engines, the aircraft was powered by two prototype Junkers Jumo B-1 jet engines mounted underneath the wings. With a maximum speed of 550 mph, these engines made the plane at least a hundred miles faster than the most modern piston engine fighters, as well as more maneuverable too. The wings were called swept wings due to the fact that they were angled a bit, pointing backwards instead out to the side of the aircraft. According to the designers it was supposed to make the aircraft more maneuverable then standard planes as well as make the plane easier to handle. In terms of armament, the Me 262 was heavily armed. It was equipped with four 30mm auto-cannons placed in the nose of the aircraft. This model was also designed to carry 12 55mm unguided rockets, 6 strapped under each wing, placed next to the engines. This the pilot would use to deal with any kind of ground targets that she would come upon. The aircraft was painted completely grey with red and black markings. On the nose of the plane was a swallow, painted on both sides along with the phrase _"Grau Sirene"_, or Grey Siren in English underneath both of the swallows.

Inside the pilot, dressed in her flight suit and strapped tightly to her seat, checked over various dials, switches, and other flight instruments in front of her with one hand while she kept the plane steady with the other hand wrapped tightly around the joystick. Initial checks suggested that the aircraft was holding up well, and for the plane's first real field test meant good things for future production. She was a beautiful young woman of about twenty years of age. Her long brown hair which was tied into a single braid, was kept under her flight cap to keep it from flying around during aerial maneuvers. Her eyes were the same color as her hair and she had some freckles upon her cheeks.

Once she was finished, she looked over to a small black and white photo taped onto the electronics. It showed a handsome young man in an early Luftwaffe uniform used during the Great War alongside an equally beautiful army nurse wrapped in his arms. She picked up the photo before looking deeply at it and managed to crack a small smile. This was a photo of her parents when they first met during the Great War. Funny how out of a war that many veterans called 'Hell on Earth', they managed to find love in all that carnage. They gave her this photo as a way of remembering them when she graduated the New Berlin Imperial Military Academy, Germania's most prestigious military academy, at the age of 16 and was given her first assignment during the Border Skirmishes.

In her four years in the Border Skirmishes, she managed to rack up quite a tally in kills. And since the war started she's added more to that count. And now for this mission she was tasked to lead the second wave of attack aircraft to Randgriz and perform the field test for perhaps the one plane in the _Luftwaffe_ that will be a big game changer in any war in the future.

Suddenly the her radio crackled to life and a male voice on the other end filed her cockpit. _"__Fräulein Hauptmann?" _he asked.

The young pilot put down the photo of her parents, took the transmitter and spoke back into it in English "This is Captain Emilia here. Go ahead son."

"ETA to Randgriz in three minutes. All squadrons reporting in. We're ready to go ma'am," said the pilot.

"Alright, all pilots prepare to move out on my signal. Once the Heinkel's began to bomb the city and fall back, everyone else dives down and hit the city. Over and out," ordered Emilia as she turned off the radio and prepared her plane for the final descent into the city.

* * *

"What part of 'stay at the Fort' did you not understand?" berated Welkin to Isara wondering why on Earth she couldn't listen to him for once. Isara was sitting on a wooden ammo crate with Welkin pacing back and forth in front of her. Jack, Alicia, Largo, and Rosie were standing behind Isara watching the whole thing while Read and Faldio checked on the AA defenses in the factory. Welkin was giving the classic case of 'big brother laying down the law on his little sister'. And some of the squad was watching the whole thing happen right in front of them.

"Did you ever think that maybe I could be more useful fighting than staying behind?" asked Isara, trying to explain her point.

Welkin stopped in front of Isara before looking at her and saying "This isn't about if you're useful or not in which you are very useful Is. I tried to keep you there because I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I can take care of myself Welkin. I'm more than capable of fighting Germans," countered Isara.

"Yeah. If they're standing right in front of you and looking at one of their comrades getting shot at in another direction," joked Jack, reminding Isara about the incident with the German soldier back at the Gunther mansion.

"That was different," commented Alicia.

Jack looked at her and began to counter back with "How was that different? The guy wasn't even-." Before Jack could finish, he was interrupted by the sound of engines droning overhead. Slowly but surely everyone looked up to the sight of streaks from hundreds of _Luftwaffe_ planes nearing the city of Randgriz. It seemed like the the second part of the raid was about to begin, and most likely with a hell of a lot of bangs and explosions.

"Okaaaay, now I'm thinking that we should get to those guns now," suggested Jack, in complete shock over what he was seeing.

"For once kid, I actually agree with you on something," noted Rosie.

Wasting not a moment, Welkin looked to his squad and barked "Everyone to the factory! On the double now! Move!

* * *

High above the formation, Emilia turned back on her radio and ordered _"Alle Staffeln aufgepasst! Engage frei!" _And with that the Heinkel He 111's bomb bay doors opened up and five hundred pound bombs began to rain down upon the city of Randgriz. Pummeling the already ruined buildings into dust. The Air Battle of Randgriz...had begun.

* * *

German to English translations

1\. _"__Fräulein Hauptmann?" _\- Miss Captain?

2\. _"Alle Staffeln aufgepasst! Engage frei!" _\- All squadrons listen up! Engage at will!

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	30. Hell over Randgriz Part-1

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_"By the time the second wave hit the city, the Germans had already lost the element of surprise. The Gallian Regulars and Militia had gotten what remained of the AA defenses readied and placed soldiers with their guns in any high buildings that remained so they would be able to hit any German plane that came low enough to hit with a concentrated burst of small arms fire. We were well prepared for the Nazis, more the city ever was for any bombing raid since the war began little over a month ago. This time the city's garrison was ready to defend themselves against the Germans, and this time the Luftwaffe was going to lose more than just a few planes this time. However, this didn't mean that we were going to win that easily either." -Jack Lawrence_

Squad 7 ran into the factory as fast as they could as the Heinkel bombers made their way over the city, preparing to make their bombing run. They all managed to get themselves inside the main production room of the factory along with Faldio, Read, and a few of their soldiers as well. The factory was full of various machinery and conveyor belts that the workers used for building whatever they originally worked so hard to build. When the war started the factory was soon converted to make weapons for the war effort. At some point the factory must have ordered it's workers to flee since the bombing raids were becoming a constant threat to them. Thankfully however, due to the fact that the factory managed to remain mostly unscathed, the Gallians began placing anti-aircraft guns around the factory as a way of making it useful again. Now it was up to the Sevens to man the guns and help drive back the _Luftwaffe_ from the city.

"Welkin, let's move! We don't have much time!" warned Faldio, leading the group.

Not a moment after he said that he could hear someone outside shout at the top their lungs "The bombers are overhead! Their dropping their payload!"

Reacting within a split second, Welkin ordered "Everyone take cover quickly!"

And with those words, everyone scrambled. Many leaped onto the floor, lying there with their arms covering their heads. Other hid underneath any machinery that offered a space big enough for them to fit under as well as cover over their heads. A few short seconds after everyone had done this, the sounds of explosions from all over Randgriz filled the airwaves as the Heinkel bombers unleashed their devastating and explosive payloads onto the city from above. The explosions occurred in very, very, short intervals and they were seemingly getting louder and louder with each passing second. This indicated that the bombs were being dropped closer and closer to the factory, and soon they would be falling right on top of them. That moment seemed to come when the walls and ceiling of the building began to violently shake from the shock waves of the nearby explosions. The metal supports of the building rattled and shook while pieces of the ceiling began to give way and plummet to the ground, some of it landing upon the machinery and near one of the squad members.

Soon the sound of a massive explosion broke out right above and close. Suddenly, large chunks from one of the stone smokestacks came crashing through the roof, taking a large section of the ceiling with them as the collided upon the ground with a loud and resounding thud. Metal re-bars that supported the ceiling buckled and groaned under the sudden force of their counterparts giving way under the weight of the smokestack pieces that fell through the roof. Dust and other debris fell down for a while until the sounds of the explosions soon began coming from the other side of the factory and began fading away slowly. The bombers had now passed the factory and onto other sections of the city, meaning it was now safe for Squad 7 to come out get back up.

Welkin was the first to get up, with the other following slowly. He looked at his uniform and brushed off the dust that fell upon him from the ceiling. As the squad got back up one by one, he looked to them and asked "Is everyone okay? No one injured?"

Rosie was the first to speak, grumbling "I've got a headache and a ringing in my ears. Other than that, I'm good." Everyone followed with somewhat the same thing along with a few mumbles, groans, and other audio cues that signaled that they were all alive. They're luck that they were somewhat blessed with had managed to help them once again. They just survived a full scale bombing raid from the _Luftwaffe_. At this point Welkin didn't know how much more their seemingly crazy luck will carry them any further. Just as he was about to carry out order for the rest of the battle, he heard a voice that caused everyone to turn at the same direction.

"Excuse me! I know that we have more pressing issues right now but could someone get this thing off of me?!" shout Jack, who had his legs being pinned by a piece of re-bar that had fallen upon the floor shot end up, evident by the mark on the floor nearby, before landing on Jack's legs. It didn't land with enough force to break the bones in his legs but it did hurt like hell when it landed on him. He tried to budge it off by himself but the sheer weight of the metal beam was too much for him to be able to push it off. He would need help if he was going to free his legs. Thankfully help came when Welkin, Alicia, Largo, Jann, and Rosina rushed over and managed to lift the re-bar up just enough for Jack to move his legs out of the way before they dropped the re-bar back onto the ground with a resounding clang of metal upon the metal floor.

As Jack grabbed his Mags sub-machine gun and massaged his legs, he commented to the others "Now I remember how much I hate bombing raids."

"Well, at least you're still alive Jack," noted Isara, who had helped him get back on his feet.

"That doesn't make me feel any better kiddo," commented Jack.

"We better get moving boss, the rest of those planes could be on us at any second now," warned Largo.

"Agreed. Everyone, split up and find an AA gun. If you can't find one, pick an area where you can use your other weapon. Let's go!" ordered Welkin, taking Alicia, Faldio, and Read with him in one direction. The squad soon scrambled into smaller groups of a few people and a couple groups larger than that. Each one went in separate directions in order to find an AA gun that they could use and before the rest of the _Luftwaffe_ assault force showed up. Isara started to go off in one direction all by herself before Jack grabbed her by the shawl.

"Oh, no you don't. _You_, are coming with me," said Jack before dragging her along with him as he limped up the main staircase. Even though that re-bar didn't break his legs, they still hurt like hell.

* * *

From high above the city, Emilia looked upon the carnage happening below as the bombs from the Heinkel's made contact with the buildings below and destroying them in a large explosive fireball. She looked at it for only a moment before she suddenly looked away. She never believed that they should bomb civilian targets like large cities. It offered them no advantage whatsoever besides a whole lot of dead civilians and more ammunition for the enemy to use in their propaganda for the war effort. They should be focusing on hitting military installations such as airfields, radar outposts, and concentrations of enemy troops. Not cowardly tactics such as bombing innocent people.

But sadly she had no choice in the matter. She didn't have enough pull in the _Luftwaffe_ to be able to change their minds as to what they should be targeting. She simply had to follow the orders of those pointed above her and carry them out to the letter. She looked now to see that the bombers were now finished with their run and were preparing to turn back around and fly straight back to base. Now it was her turn along with the Me 109's, Fw 190's, and Ju 87's to get their hands dirty and take the fight straight to the Gallian's level.

Turning the radio back on, she spoke into the radio to signal the rest of the force to go on with the assault.

_"Alle Staffeln, beginnen den Angriff auf einmal! Schnell! Los, los, los! __Bevor wir verlieren unsere Dynamik!__"_ she shouted in German. And as if on cue, every one of the remaining planes suddenly dipped their planes into a sharp and steep dive straight to the smoldering ruins of Randgriz below them. Some of them decided to show off their piloting skills and did a quick roll of their planes before joining the rest of the formation. Once the first rows of planes had started Emilia dove down and using the Me262's superior speed and high velocity, she put herself at the head of the formation. She was now at the forefront of the attack group and would be the first one to head into the gauntlet of AA fire that they would inevitably be receiving shortly.

* * *

Jack, Faldio, Alicia, and Mary ran alongside a catwalk on the outside of the factory before coming upon a platform high up that was perfect for them to shoot from. There was no anti-aircraft guns present but this place was better than nothing. The four stood by the railing and began cocking their weapons for a fight. Read looked up into the cloudless sky to see hundreds of dark specks that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see.

"By the Valkyrur," she muttered "It looks like the whole damn _Luftwaffe_ showed up here!"

"Yeah, it does seem like that. How are we supposed to stop them all?" asked Alicia aloud as she pointed her rifle up at the approaching German formation, ready to fire as soon as one came into range.

"I don't know. But I know that we're going to stop them one way or another. That I'm certain of," said Faldio, and quite confidently as he loaded a magazine into his Gallian-M4 rifle.

Read instantly jerked her head in his direction once he made that comment. She turned her head so fast her ponytail almost whipped around her head to hit her in the face. She looked at Faldio with a face that read surprise and asked him bluntly "You're joking right? We can't stop _all_ of these guys."

"Doesn't mean we can't take a few of them down with us," he remarked back, with a grin on his face.

Mary looks to Welkin and asks him plainly "Is he always like this?" Faldio gave her a glance as she asked that question. Welkin chose not to answer that question and simply continue keeping his eyes and rifle trained upon the sky. As the planes drew closer, suddenly the sky was filled with puffs of black smoke and the boom of anti-aircraft fire filled the air. In response, the German planes broke formation and scrambled to find their targets. Soon the German fighters and dive bombers began lighting up any Gallian positions that they could find. The bright red tracer bullets from their guns helped them to zero in on their targets. The four of them also saw a few more explosions in the distance, showing where the first of the Gallian positions that fell in this wave of the attack. They flew all over the skies, infecting them like buzzards as they attacked Randgriz.

Out of all the German planes flying in every possible direction, Alicia was the first to spot a potential target. "Enemy fighter closing in! Dead ahead!" She warned the others. And true to her word, dead ahead was a German Me 109 barreling straight for them. He was flying low to get a good shot. In fact he was so l;ow, that the force of the wind created when he passed over houses was enough to cause some of the roof tile to fly right off the roof. He was coming in at high speed and would be right within range of their weapons in a matter of seconds. All four of them raised their weapons and took aim at the incoming plane. Once it entered their range they let loose with everything they had. Faldio, Alicia, and Welkin fired at him with their Gallian-M4 rifles and Read used her Mags-M4 sub-machine gun. Their bullets whizzed by the plane with even a few striking the plane. However it did little to daze the pilot until one of those bullets broke the canopy and nearly hit him. Reacting quickly, he jerked the joystick hard to the left causing the plane to do a tight turn to the left away from the factory and onto another target. When the enemy plane had turned away from them, the four quickly reloaded their rifles and began searching for another possible target.

"Well at least we managed to get him," commented Alicia.

"We didn't exactly 'get him' Alicia. We just managed to make him run for it," corrected Welkin. He received a quick glare from Alicia for his comment.

"Forget about that. Keep scanning for anyone else that get's close!" warned Welkin as he sized up a pair of Stukas flying near them.

* * *

In another section of the factory, atop the remaining smokestack the factory had, the snipers of Squad 7 climbed up the ladder and positioned themselves high above the factory. from up there they could see over much of the city as well as any German plane within a mile. And with the long range of their rifles and the open space of the air and skies above Randgriz, it was the best kind of scenario for a sniper. They were placed in teams of two with Marina opting to work alone. Oscar and Emile formed one such pair while Catherine and Cezary formed the other one. They took posts on different places on the catwalk that ran around the outside of the smokestack, near the top where the smoke would come out of. Thankfully, even though they were mostly exposed where they were, the stone and concrete smokestack towered behind them covered their rear so they wouldn't have to worry about air attacks coming from behind. But even with all these advantages for them, they were having trouble getting a bead, or a hit for that matter, on any of the fast moving planes. Lining up a shot, Oscar fired his GSR-M4 at the cockpit of one of the Fw 190 fighter-bombers. However he didn't see the glass break or the bullet strike the hull so it was clear that he had missed his target.

"Ugh! Damn it! Why can't these guys just stay still so I can shoot them?!" shouted Oscar in his frustration.

"They're planes, not soldiers. We can't just hit them like an ordinary target. We'll need to lead them a bit if we're going to hit one," reminded Emile, turning to look towards his brother.

"That doesn't make me feel any better Emile!" Oscar shot back at him. He was still cranky that Emile had joined the Militia against his brother's wishes, the last thing he wanted right now is to take shooting tips from him as well.

On the other side of the smokestack, Catherine and Cezary weren't having much luck either. They have shot at almost every German plane they have seen but so far all that they've been able to do is punch a few small holes in them or miss completely. If they were going to make any dent in the German raid, they were going to have to shoot down at least one of the German planes, and quickly if they could. Soon, out of the corner of her eye, Catherine spotted an enticing pair of targets coming from their left and flying low, almost right on top of the ruined buildings, with their twenty millimeter autocannon pods on their wings strafing the city.

Pointing them out to Cezary, she noted "There! Two of their damned Stukas coming our way boyo. Let's see if we can knock one out."

However Cezary wasn't paying that much attention to that. He was too busy shaking in fear and with his eyes closed over the absolutely high he was from the ground. After an incident with falling from a tree, the young man became deathly, deathly afraid of any high places. Which is ironic since his chosen class was that of a Sniper, a kind of infantry who normally took to the high areas in combat. Catherine noticed this and rolled her eyes at his behavior. _I have never met a sniper in my life who was ever afraid of heights until you kid, _thought Catherine as she bumps him in the shoulder. This manages to knock Cezary out of his stumpier and bring him back to reality. Catherine points out the two Stuka's too Cezary who looks at them and realizes what she's meant. Before she could, he suggested first "Why not try and take out one then?"

"Why not take out both? You take one and I take out the other?" asked Catherine, slightly confused about his statement.

"We'll have a better shot if we focus on one. Two bullets should be enough to bring one down. And I'd rather not take my chances that we'll knock out both," explained Cezary.

Not wanting to argue for fear that the Stukas would get away, Catherine simply nodded in response and the two of them aimed their rifles at the closet of the pair of planes. They waited until they were very close, so close that you could see the pilot through the glass canopy. Then in a split second reaction, Catherine fired her rifle just a few milliseconds before Cezary fired his. The bullets sailed through the air at a very high rate of speed as they made their way to their target. Catherine's bullet struck the cockpit, weakening the glass but not shattering it. But Cezary's bullet pierced the glass and became embedded in the German pilot's skull. The impact caused blood to spatter all over the inside of the cockpit. The pilot slumped forward, pushing on the joystick with the weight of his body. The plane suddenly took a steep dive and plummeted straight into the street, breaking apart into a twisted metal wreck as it cartwheeled violently upon impact.

As the other plane soon began a steep climb and made a turn away from the factory, Catherine and Cezary looked upon their work from above. They could see the smoldering wreck of the Stuka below in the streets of Randgriz, still smoking from the crash. Catherine let out a hearty cheer and raised a fist in the air as she was overjoyed by what they accomplished.

"Ha ha. That's one less kraut dive-bomber to worry about," commented Catherine.

"Unfortunately his friend doesn't seem happy about that," said a worried Cezary who was now staring out in front of him to a terrible sight. Catherine looked to Cezary, saw the scarred look on his face, followed his gaze and found the object that he was looking at. She spied the second Stuka that flew with the one they had just shot down. It had apparently noticed them when his wing man was shot down and turned away to gain some distance between him and the smokestack. Once he had enough distance, he must have quickly turned around and leveled himself on the same level as the platform the snipers of Squad 7 were currently on and was now barreling towards them as fast as it could go. From what she could see, both Catherina and Cezary figured out pretty quickly what was going to happen next and quickly sprang into action.

They grabbed their rifles and headed towards the ladder that led back down to the factory below. Cezary went down first, sliding down while Catherine got the others and had them go down as well to save them. Once they were all going down, Catherine followed suit just as the Stuka opened fire with it's nose mounted machine guns and it's twenty millimeter autocannons. The shells and bullets slammed into the stone and concrete structure, chipping off chunks of material of the smokestack. A lot of them ended up falling upon the heads of the Gallians as they made their way down from the smokestacks. Once it was getting too close, the Stuka braked hard to the right and flew away from the factory and onto another part of the city as the snipers managed to make their way back down to the factory to find another post.

* * *

_Rat-a-tat-a-rat-a-tat, _came the sound from Jack's Mag-M4 sub-machine gun as he fired on a Me 109 that flew right over his head. This was the tenth time these guys had flown near him and Isara. And so far the score was _Luftwaffe_ 10 and Jack 0. They were going to have to change tactics if they were going to win this fight. What they needed was firepower, more than a sub-machine gun that Jack had and the rifle that Isara had. Though she wasn't really using it at the had noticed a few crates of various sizes and decided to check them out and see if there was anything useful inside that they could use to defeat the German's. However, after searching over most of the crates she had found nothing but a series of various spare metal parts such as tubes, gears, panels and the such. They wouldn't be enough to take on the _Luftwaffe_ unless they decided to throw them at incoming planes. And to make matters worse, Jack was running out of ammo very quickly.

"Please tell me you have something that can take out a damn plane," cried Jack as he frantically searched for if he had any magazines left, but turned up empty handed. Apparently he had no more ammunition for his gun.

Isara had scrambled when she finally found the last crate and opened up the lid with a crowbar. Once she opened the lid her face cracked a smile for she actually found something useful that they can use. Inside was the air-cooled version of the infamous Lewis light machine gun, a favorite of British and Gallian forces during the Great War. Originally an American made weapon, it came in two versions: an air-cooled version for early fighter planes and one with a shroud that covered the barrel. Both were shipped to the Allied forces during the Great War as war supplies to their armed forces.

The version with the metal shroud covering the barrel was the most popular version of the weapon. It's magazine was a pan shaped one that held over ninety-seven .30 caliber bullets which was placed flat on the top before firing the gun. And although this weapons has been considered outdated and replaced by the American and Federation Armies, their colonial forces, the troops of the Balkan Confederacy, and Gallia continued to use large stores of this weapon whenever they were short on more modern light machine guns. And right now, it was what Jack and Isara needed to deal with these pesky _Luftwaffe_ planes.

With haste, she grabbed the gun and the magazines for it, which were in a satchel holding about five, and slides them over to Jack while she grabs her Gallian-M4 rifle and joins next to him. Both items land at Jack's feet who looks down to see what he had been hoping for now quite _literally_ right at his feet. With a smile on his face and a hearty laugh escaping his lips, he picked up the satchel, slung it over his shoulder, grabbed the gun and loaded in a fresh magazine before cocking the bolt, loading the first bullet into the chamber.

"Ha, ha. Now this is what I'm talking about. And just in time too. We got another one incoming!" announced Jack as he pointed out to Isara an Me 109 that was going to pass right by them. The two of them them readies their weapons and took aim at the Nazi aircraft that was closing in on their position. Once the plane was in range they let loose at him with the Lewis Gun. The rate of fire, combined with Jack's good aim, proved to be effective since after the first few bursts the plane began to smoke and that smoke soon turned into fire. The plane soon began to spiral out of control before flying right past the duo. It continued like that for a few more seconds until it collided with a ruined building and detonated in a fiery explosion that destroyed whatever was left of the building.

The two were silent for a while before Isara broke the silence and joked "Jack...I think we got him."

"Yeah, we did. Let's go see how the others are doing," suggested Jack as he signaled for the two of them to move on.

* * *

The black puffs of exploding forty milometer anti-aircraft shells came all around the frames of two Stuka's as they fly past a broken area of the factory, but failing to knock either of them out before the gun's ran out of ammunition. In that broken area was an area of the factory wall that was torn down by the bombing and a pair of anti-aircraft guns were placed there to help bolster the defenses. Vyse, Aika, Lynn, Karl, Rosie, and Largo found these two guns and decided to use theses guns to their advantage.

These guns were 40mm Bofors autocannons. A kind of heavy AA gun designed to lob high explosive shells high into the air and detonate near or upon contact with an aircraft. Gallia managed to gather a good portion of these guns that the United States had given to them and were putting these weapons to good use defending the capital. And these two guns in the hands of Squad 7 were doing very well being the fact that they had shot down a few German planes. Aika and Vyse were manning one of the guns while Rosie and Largo operated the other one. Lynn and Karl were helping with loading the guns after each volley. The pair had to do this task frequently mainly because due to the large caliber of the ammunition the guns could only fire five rounds of ammunition before they had to reload.

"Aw, damn it! They got away!" grunted Aika watching in anger as the Stuka's flew away from them practically unscathed.

"Just focus your fire on the next one that comes around and they won't be so lucky," comforted Largo, readying the gun for another salvo. Lynn and Karl instantly jumped into action carrying the shells one by one and loading them into the magazine racks on each of the guns. It was then that coming down the stairs behind them came Jack with his Lewis gun and Isara not far behind him. They came back down just as Lynn and Karl were loading the last shells into the twin Bofors.

"Tell me you guys had better luck than we did?" asked Jack as he walked up to Lynn and Karl.

"They managed to take down a few planes but nothing much. How about you guys?" asked Lynn.

Jack held up one finger before explaining "We only got one fucking plane. Jesus Christ we're barely even putting a dent in these guys and if this keeps up then this city is just screwed."

"I wouldn't say that," informed Karl leading them to a radio he had set up on a small wooden table behind a broken wall "From what we've heard we managed to take out about thirty of their planes so far."

This however didn't do much to sway the already worried Jack Lawrence who sarcastically commented to them "Oh really? Thirty planes eh? Well, what are we supposed to do about the other three hundred of those _Luftwaffe_ hornets flying all over our heads?!

Just as Jack had finished his statement, the sounds of piston engines flying right overhead got their attention as they all headed over to the guns to see what was going on. When they got there a pair of 109's appeared flying from the factory with tracer bullets flying all around them. The source of those tracers was revealed when two Gallian P-40 Warhawks of all things were in hot pursuit of their German counterparts and firing away at them with their wing mounted machine guns. They continued to do this for a short while until one of the German planes caught on fire and plummeted straight to the ground. The members of Squad 7 looked all around them to see the welcoming sights of over three dozen blue painted P-40's with the markings of the Gallian Royal Air Corps charging straight into the airspace above Randgriz. Once they did so the pilots wasted no time getting to work as they started blasting away at any _Luftwaffe_ plane they saw. And within the first couple of minutes they had already downed a few of the Germans and were now heavily engaged with several others. All around the city, the Gallian forces cheered at the sight of their Air Force finally taking some major action against the Germans. For them, this was something that they had been waiting a very long time to see.

_"Seeing Gallian planes finally taking the fight to the Germans was a welcome sight for everyone fighting in Randgriz that day. They managed to scrape together whatever planes they could spare at the moment and sent them straight to the capital. Though they only sent in a little over thirty planes to deal with over three hundred German fighters and fighter-bombers, we were still thankful for the assistance. When they showed up however, then the fighting really got more intense. Because now every German pilot was now gunning for us all. And it was evident when we heard what was being said on the Gallian pilot's radio channel." - Jack Lawrence_

_Gallian Pilot's Radio Channel_

_"These guys are all over the place!"_

_"Pick your target's lads!"_

_There's too many of them Captain!"_

_"Watch it Bravo Leader you got two on your tail!"_

_"Me 109's coming in on Zero-Mark-Two-Seven! Intercept to engage!"_

_"I can't shake them! I'm hit! I'm hit!"_

* * *

German to English Translations

1\. _"Alle Staffeln, beginnen den Angriff auf einmal! Schnell! Los, los, los! __Bevor wir verlieren unsere Dynamik!__" _\- "All squadrons commence the assault at once! Quickly! Go, go, go! Before we lose our momentum!

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	31. Hell over Randgriz Part-2

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Gallian Aircraft Radio Channel__: __"I'm coming up on a kraut fighter. This guy's done for!"_

Flying low and fast above the rooftops of the ruined buildings, a lone Gallian P-40 is in hot pursuit of a German Me109. The two planes maneuvered through the gauntlet of AA fire, thick black smoke from the burning buildings, and other fast moving planes as the battle continued to rage all around them. Inside his cockpit, the Gallian pilot was determined to knock this plane out of the sky and have him meet an unfortunate end by crashing into the ground in a violent and explosive crash. The strain of the G forces pressed against his body as his pursuit of the German plane involved many tight turns as well as steep dives and climbs.

He continually kept his finger and the trigger, waiting for the right moment to unleash bursts of fire from his machine guns. Although he managed to fire off a few two second bursts at the German plane, these did little effect with only a few bullets striking the 109. He would need a longer, and more accurate burst if he was going to nail him. If the GRAC pilots were going to make any impact on the battle, they were going to need to knock out a good fraction of the _Luftwaffe_ planes laying siege to the city. And this pilot was on the verge of taking one out right now.

The same could not be said for the German pilot he was chasing. He was using every maneuver he could think of to try and shake the Gallian off his tail. However, it seemed like no matter what he tried, it just didn't seem to work. He was running out of ideas and needed to get away, and fast. In a last ditch attempt he jerks the plane into a wide turn in a final attempt to shake him off. He pushed both himself and his plane to the limit as the pull of G forces pressed hard upon them. The same was being said for the Gallian pilot, but it wasn't hindering him like the German pilot intended.

As the two planes continued to fly in a wide circle above the city, the advantage was slowly drifting towards the Gallian plane. Every second that passed, the Gallian pilot managed to get the guns on target. However he needed to have the guns pointed ahead of the plane. If he fired directly at the plane, the bullets would simply miss and sail right behind the German, leaving him unharmed. He would need the guns to lead the plane with bullets. That way they would strike the plane in a steady stream of red hot fifty caliber ammo piercing through the metal frame of the aircraft.

Slowly but surely, the cross hairs got closer and closer to where the Gallian pilot wanted them to be. The moment that they were there, he squeezed the trigger and let loose a massive barrage of lead at the Nazi. The tracers helped the Gallian pinpoint the bullets and the German plane was struck repeatedly by dozens of bullets. They struck the engine, fuselage, and the cockpit. The pilot was killed within the first second when the first few rounds pierced the canopy and went through him. Finally, one of the bullets hit the fuel tank, igniting the fuel and caused a massive explosion which tore the plane apart in a fiery blast.

The Gallian pilot through his plane through the cloud of smoke the explosion produced before leveling his plane. He looked back to see the pieces of his fallen foe plummet to the ground for a few moments. Once he saw the dust and flames of the impact upon the ground, he cocked his head back forward and began to continue flying and searching for targets. As he was searching for more targets, he checked in a mirror used to check if there was plane behind him: and it turns out that there was one. One that he had never seen before.

This plane was more streamlined, had wings that were swept, and was unlike any aircraft that was widely known. What struck him as the most peculiar was the fact that it didn't have a propeller but two large engines on it's wings. This was unlike any plane that any Air Force had in their arsenal. It was like the Germans designed some whole different and futuristic plane. However he did recognize the nose art and his eyes widened with fear as he realized who it was behind him. The Swallow and the German words led him to one conclusion: this plane was piloted by the "_Grey Siren"_ herself.

_"Captain Emilia von Richthofen, the only child of Baron Manfred von Richthofen, "The Grey Siren", and the fear of many pilots. The best ace in the Nazi Luftwaffe. She made a name for herself during her four years in the air battles of the Border Skirmishes before the Invasion of Gallia. Air battles were about two times more often than there were ever skirmishes on the ground and several German pilots racked up quite a kill count. In her four years as a combat pilot, she managed to shoot down over three hundred Federation, Balkan, and Soviet planes in over a hundred different missions. In recognition of her deeds, she was given medals, a promotion, and command over a whole squadron of the best pilots the Germans had to offer. _

_The nickname "Grey Siren" came from the grey painted plane she flew along with her signature Sparrow painted upon the nose of her aircraft. She was well known throughout the Air Forces of Europe for her skills as a pilot. But I suppose some of her fame was due to her father being the infamous "Red Baron" of the Great War. It payed to be the daughter of a famous war hero. She inherited her father's piloting skills as well as the sense of honor he used when he fought in the Luftwaffe. She was a fearsome pilot with an even fearsome reputation. And now she was in Gallia, adding more aircraft to her count." - Jack Lawrence_

* * *

Inside the cockpit of her Me262, Emilia maneuvered right behind the Gallian P-40 without him noticing until it was too late. Before the Gallian pilot could react and try to save himself, Emilia pressed the trigger and unleashed hell upon the enemy fighter. Her four thirty millimeter cannons fired rounds did more damage in a shorter amount of time than the P-40's six fifty caliber machine guns. The large shells pierced through the metal plating of the Gallian plane like a hot knife through butter. In a few short moments, the plane caught on fire and plummeted straight to the ground, ended up colliding with a ruined building and smashing right through it and getting stuck into the next building. Emilia simply smiled as she pointed the nose of her plane upward and began to climb up higher into the air. Once she was about a thousand feet into the air she leveled her plane and looked side to side for any potential targets which she found in the first few seconds.

Below her on her left side was a line of four evenly spaced out Bofors anti-aircraft guns that were placed upon what was left of the roof of a administrative building. These guns were firing away at a group of German aircraft at the same altitude as Emilia was, and were succeeding very well in knocking down the German planes. Though she could easily take them out with her thirty millimeter cannons, she decided upon a different approach. The techs back at her base attached these twelve experimental fifty-five millimeter rockets under her wings that she was also supposed to test out as well as the jet she was flying. And she knew just what to test it out on. She performs a _Chandelle_ flight maneuver by climbing up for a few seconds before tuning hard to the left for a moderate descent towards the Bofor AA cannons.

She slowly gained up on speed as she lined up the crosshairs for the rockets. The guns that were previously pointed away from her but now they were slowly being cranked in her direction, one by one in a thin little firing line, ready to shoot her down. They didn't seem to focus on the fact that she was flying a plane so foreign to them. They simply opened fire upon her aircraft once they were in position and barrels pointed in her general direction. The small explosions of the high explosive shells missed her plane thankfully and all that they accomplished was scratch the paint job. She simply rolled her eyes at their vain attempt to stop her. Over her years in the _Luftwaffe_, the flying skills her father taught her managed to keep her from getting shot down so many times. One of those lessons he gave her was to rush at the AA head on at full speed to catch them by surprise.

She ignored the guns and flipped a switch on the console, thereby allowing the aircraft to fire the rockets instead of the thirty millimeter cannons. And with the click of a button, all twelve of her rockets fired in pairs, leaving sleek trails of smoke as they ignited and fired at high speed towards their targets. With a powerful blast, the rockets detonated upon impact and destroyed the Bofors guns and the Gallians manning them. One of her rockets also incidentally struck the small stockpile of shells that the Gallians were using. The resulting detonation sent shock waves throughout the building. And not long after, Emilia could see that it was now collapsing to the ground. The series of explosions must have been too much for the weakened building to bear, and now like a great creature, it's strength had fallen and had given up. And as the ruined building collapsed, it released a massive cloud of dust that covered the area and soured high into the air.

Emilia flew her aircraft through the cloud of dust, blinded by the thickness of the clouds for less than a second before emerging through the other side. She looked back for a moment to see how much destruction those rockets had brought. It appeared that the designers had outdone themselves for this one. She would have to give Wernher Braun her appraisal of these rockets when the mission was over.

However it would have to wait as suddenly tracers began whizzing by her plane, coming from behind. She looked in her mirror to see two Gallian P-40's that had managed to sneak up behind her and were firing wildly around her in an attempt to take her down. Mostly their shots were missing but there were a few times that there were a few bursts that were coming dangerously close to her. They were not very close to her though and she decided to use one of her favorite moves to take these buzzards out.

* * *

One of the two Gallian pilots that was trailing behind the _Grey Siren _was unloading everything he had at her as was his wingman off of his right doing the same thing. He couldn't believe their luck that they had just managed to get the drop on the best pilot in the entire_ Luftwaffe_. They had the chance to make history and bring down a member of the von Richthofen family and the _Luftwaffe's_ greatest and most famous pilot. But in their haste for a promising victory, they were firing wildly at their target. Missing her completely and wasting their ammo. After a few complete misses they started to cool down a bit from their earlier haste. Now they were holding fire until they were sure that they were going to get a good hit on the stunning aircraft.

However before they could do anything, Emilia did something that caught the two pilots completely off guard. The flaps on her wings shot up, and her speed dropped drastically while at the same time she managed to keep the plane stable without any chance of stalling. The Gallian planes, now travelling faster than the Me 262 jet fighter, overtook her as they past right by her, letting her pass through the gap between the two planes. They both watched as their target passed by them and turned them into the targets, their faces frozen with shock and surprise. Their faces soon turned to fear when they see her flaps go back down and her plane re-accelerates in order to catch back up to them.

* * *

In a quick turn of events, Emilia had turned the tables on her pursuers. The hunters had now become the hunted. And Emilia was quick to capitalize on this turn of events. The moment she got her plane back up to full speed she homed in on one of the planes and riddled it with a well place burst from her thirty millimeter cannons. The Gallian P-40 began to trail heavy black smoke as it descended onto the ground before crashing into the streets of Randgriz below. His wingman, panicking, sped his plane as fast as it could in an attempt to get away from her along with swinging his plane from left to right to try and keep her from getting a good shot at her. Emilia simply smiled at this and waited for him to drift back into her sights. It took a few passes but the moment he lined up she pulled the trigger and the same fate befell him. The major difference is that he simply spins out of control and continuing at the same altitude. Knowing that her job was done in this area, she pulled out as the plane continued spinning out of control before eventually colliding with a busted factory.

* * *

Jack covered his head and crouched down as the Gallian P-40 that crashed into the factory caused the building to shake and send dust and some debris from the building with some of it missing him by only a few inches. It seemed that their situation was getting worse as the minutes passed by. Even with the addition of the Gallian Royal Air Corps pilots to help their AA guns, it appeared to do very little to help their current situation. Little by little the Germans were whittling away at their defenses, and there were less AA guns and planes coming up as the battle wages on. Honestly Jack was wondering how long it would take before all of Randgriz's defenses were destroyed.

"Goddammit! We're getting our asses kicked out here!" yelled Jack as he got back up and brushed off the dust on his duster and helmet.

"No kidding! And we're also low on ammo for the guns!" added Largo after the last of the shells were loaded into the Bofors guns. Jack had taken over Karl's duties of Loading the guns alongside of Lynn while Karl and Isara had set up a radio and were listening in on the channels to see how the battle was going on. So far all they were hearing was a bunch of cries, screams, and shouts from both the Gallian pilots and the AA crews with no good news at all being spoken. It seemed like the tide of the battle hadn't changed at all, even with the added air support. All that they could do now was just do what little they could to inflict whatever kind of damage they could upon the enemy. Every little bit they could do would be most helpful.

As for what the others were doing, the two Bofors gun crews just finished firing the last of their shells at a small formation of German fighters, managing to knock down two of them with their combined firepower. Now the guns were pretty much useless to them unless they could find more ammunition, which was doubtful. And with the guns now exhausted, Largo, Rosie, Vyse, and Aika jumped off them to regroup with the others.

"Well now what do we do?" inquired Rosie.

"Not much. We didn't even have that much ammo to start with when we got here," commented Largo.

"I'd offer an idea but I doubt that any of you are going to listen to me anyway" noted Jack, throwing his hands into the air in frustration. Almost on cue, coming through the entrance of a hallway emerged Welkin, Alicia, Faldio, and Mary who were now all covered in dust as well. It appears that they had abandoned their previous position and had fallen back inside the factory. Perhaps their situation was no better than everyone else's.

Welkin wasted no time and spoke to Largo "What's your status here?"

"We're out of ammo for the AA guns, and they're still plenty of kraut fighters up there wrecking havoc on the city. Quite honestly, it doesn't look very good for us," answered Largo quite bluntly.

"If we had more fly boys out here, then things wouldn't be so bad," suggested Vyse.

"Considering how many German planes are up there Vyse, I doubt that would help very much," countered Aika.

"Either way, we have to do something. Our defenses are getting pummeled. Soon there won't be anything left," mentioned Alicia, who then looks to Welkin "So what do you suggest we do?"

Before Welkin could say anything, Karl, who was still managing the radio with Isara listened to something interesting which he took notice of. He was dialing through the channels and listening through the headphones to see if there was anything new, and he stumbled upon a channel that none of the Gallian forces in the city were using. From what language was being spoken he could assume that this was a German channel. He also could tell from the voice that it was a woman and that she was likely the one that's giving the orders to the other German pilots. Feeling that it may be important, he looked to Welkin and shouted "Lieutenant! You'll need to hear this!"

This got the attention of everyone in the group as they all walked over to them. Karl took off his headset and began explaining " I think I found one of the channels the Germans are using. Might give us some info about their movements here."

"Can you tell what they're saying?" asked Welkin.

"Not really. They're speaking in German. I can't tell one word they're saying," regretfully admitted Karl.

"Well lucky for you, I speak German. So if you would just let me-" announced Jack with a smirk. He was about to move forward to try and help when suddenly Vyse and Lynn grabbed him by the arms jerked him back, preventing him from working on the radio. It was apparent that they still didn't trust him. Even though they didn't say it this time, their actions and body language made that distrust evident. The probably though he was going to try and warn his German friends about his capture or give the squad false information that could lead to more Gallian lives lost and tally another victory to the German's roster. Once again he would have to find a way to convince them to allow him to use his skills for good use. Though that hasn't really worked out well for him so far.

"Look. I'm just trying to help here," stated Jack, who was actually starting to get a little annoyed by all of this.

"Like hell we are!" exclaimed Vyse, still holding Jack's arm back.

Jack only looked at Vyse and shot back at him "I kind of figured that out for myself 'Eyepatch'!"

"Did you just call me 'Eyepatch'?" wondered Vyse, the word just sinking into his mind.

Ignoring Vyse, Jack looks to Welkin and pleads with him "Welkin, I'm the only person here who knows German. I can tell you what they're saying. But you have to trust me on this. It's the only way."

Welkin thought about the idea in his head. It was true that out of everyone in Squad 7, Jack was the only one of them who actually spoke German fluently. With his help he could be able to translate what the German pilots were saying, thereby anticipating their moves and allowing the Gallians to regain some amount of momentum in this battle. However, he was still unsure as to whom Jack's allegiance truly resided. If he was truly a Nazi Spy then it was probably not a very good thing that he have access to a German radio channel. He could try and warn them that his cover was blown and that they needed help. In his head he weighed the two options back and forth as he tried to figure out what to do. Ultimately he figured that this was an opportunity that they couldn't pass up. Ultimately he had Vyse and Lynn release Jack. Welkin handed the headset over to Jack and he immediately got to work listening in on the German radio channel.

After a few minutes Jack finally started speaking "From the looks of it, they sound as if they're already done here. There is someone leading these guys however."

"Who is it?" asked Faldio, his voice sounding quite demanding.

"I'm getting to that. It's a woman all right. Wait a minute. I know that voice...shit. It's Emilia," said a shocked Jack. He had known Emilia von Richthofen during his travels with his father in Germania. The two of them had met only a couple of times, but those few encounters were enough to leave a major impression upon him. He had heard of her famous flying skills and even saw them in small films that showed her taking down enemy planes during the infamous Border Skirmishes. And if she was here, then that would explain how they were losing quite rapidly.

Apparently, the other's had noticed his reaction to her and were curious as to why. Alicia was the one to voice about it, asking Jack "Who's Emilia?"

Jack looked at her and answered truthfully "Emilia von Richthofen. The "Red Baron's" daughter. Not to mention the best pilot in the entire goddamn _Luftwaffe_. She's the one leading this attack. Apparently she's got this new plane that the Nazis are testing. And from what I'm hearing, she's kicking our asses up there."

Mary looked at Welkin and expressed her worries. "I've heard of her. The fly boys call her the _Grey Siren_, and from what I've heard she's just as dangerous as she is young and beautiful," she said.

Before they could go any further into the topic, Jack overheard something that caught his attention and raised an alarm. With worry on his face, he looked to the others and panicked "Guys, we got a problem! I just heard an order from Emilia! She and a whole squadron of Stuka's and Me 109's are heading straight for Amaranthine!"

Their faces were soon plastered with the same look that Jack had on. Most of the Fort's garrison was sent to the city to help with the defense, leaving only a small token force of a few dozen Gallian Regulars to protect both the base and Gallian High Command. The base was practically defenseless and open to attack from the air. They needed to warn the base right away. But before they could hear they heard the droning sounds of piston engines overhead. Feeling that this may be what Jack was mentioning, they dropped whatever they were doing and ran to the wall opening where the AA guns were positioned and looked to the skies. They saw exactly what Jack had mentioned. Ten Me 109's and six Stuka's flew directly overhead them in formation and heading straight towards Fort Amaranthine at full speed. To fast for Squad 7 to warn them about the incoming attack. And as the squadron flew farther and farther away, Emilia's Me 262 flew directly overhead and was gaining up on the formation. Squad 7 simply looked at the strange plane as it flew off and wondered as to what the hell it was.

"Is that a...jet?" asked Jack, not believing his own eyes. He had heard that the Germans were designing and testing jet planes but he always assumed that it was just some kind of rumor. Noting more, and nothing less. But it looks like that as of today, that the rumor was finally proven to be correct.

* * *

The Fort managed to see the incoming planes however. Even so, there was very little they could do to prevent them from starting their attack which began almost immediately after they were sighted. The Stukas were the ones who started their attack, diving towards the base at an angle for a strafing run with the twenty millimeter cannon pods while the Me 109's flew overhead in case there were any enemy fighters that showed up. They flew in formation and all fired at the exact same time. The shells struck all across the ground. They hit the vehicle hangers, the training grounds, barracks and more importantly the tank depot and the armory. The thin armor of the Gallian light tanks made the twenty millimeter shells big enough to penetrate through their armor. The Stukas managed to destroy a whole line of Gallian tanks, setting them off in a chain reaction of fiery explosions. And once they hit a small ammo depot and fuel depot, then that explosion was much greater and caster debris all over within a hundred yard radius, with some of the debris striking into the main building and breaking through the windows or walls.

The base garrison scrambled all around the place, trying to avoid the German airstrike that was supposed to be centered on Randgriz. They had no real defense to use against them for all of the base's AA guns were placed within Randgriz, feeling that the city was more important than the actual Fort itself. And as the Stukas climbed back up, Emilia began to fly overhead to ready for her final part of the operation. Inside the cockpit, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a sealed envelope that she received in the town of Ghirlandaio before setting off on this mission. It was the same envelope that that Prince Lelouch had asked a messenger to deliver to her along with instructions on what to do with it. The Prince wanted Emilia to use the attack on Randgriz as cover for her to fly Fort Amaranthine and drop this little message there for the Gallian High Command to read. And she knew just how to drop it down there.

From a small compartment under the seat, she pulled out a miniature version of an aircraft bomb. It was an early model used for fighter pilots in the first few months of the war. The bomb weighed twenty pounds, was able to be thrown by one hand, and could fit inside of her cockpit where the pilot would throw from out of their biplane fighter. She had the explosive charge removed so that she could create a hollow compartment for which the envelope would be placed in and allow her to deliver the Prince's message. And just like that, she put the envelope in, closed the compartment shut, slowed down the plane just enough, and readied herself for what was next. In a show of her skills she flipped the plane to fly upside down, opened the cockpit and finally released her grip on the bomb. As the bomb sailed through the air towards the impact point, she flew the plane right side up and with the rest of her squadron back towards the city of Randgriz, leaving the smoldering Gallian fort behind her.

Over the German radio channel, one of her pilots flying over Randgriz contacted her and informed her _"Hauptmann, die Luftabwehr und ihre Flugzeuge zerstört. Was sind Ihre Aufträge?"_

Emilia simply smiled into the radio and answered back _"Unsere Arbeit hier ist getan. Haben die Transporte lassen ihre Broschüren und lassen Sie uns die Hölle aus hier."_ And with that note, she turned her plane with the rest of the others and headed back for German controlled airspace, with another successful mission completed. Down below, the Gallian Regulars watched as the Germans flew away after their attack on the base. Although they were glad that they were leaving, they were more curious about the small bomb canister dropped by one of their planes that was now lying in the center of the courtyard, seemingly waiting for someone to come near it.

* * *

"Am I crazy, or are these guys leaving?" asked a bewildered Rosie, as Squad 7, now gathered outside of the factory with Mary and Faldio's squad as well, watched as the German planes began flying away from Randgriz en mass and in large formations. It looked as if they had finished whatever they were assigned to do and was now returning back to base. They had left much destruction in this raid, and many Gallians were killed in the event of it. But for now, it seemed like these one and a half hours of hell were finally over. Or so it seemed.

Not a moment after the fighters were beginning to leave, it appeared that one final wave of _Luftwaffe_ planes were arriving. These were transport planes, Ju 57's. These were used for _Luftwaffe_ paratroopers or for transporting supplies to the front by air. They were flying low, just above all of the ruined buildings. They appeared to be flying all over the city in a straight line as if they were trying to sweep over the entire city. And out of each of them appeared to be sheets of paper being thrown out and allowed to fall onto the streets below. Many of them fell over Squad 7 which many caught. These sheets of paper appeared to be pamphlets that were written in English for the Gallian to read. Most likely it was propaganda that the Germans were issuing to try and break the Gallians morale. Aside from the pamphlets, it appeared that some of the Ju 57 transports had speakers attached to them. There was a man speaking into them with a heavy German accent and speaking to any who could hear him. Once again, it was German propaganda.

_**"Honorable and brave soldiers of the Gallian Army and Militia. There is no need for this senseless violence between our two great nations. The German Army is not your enemy. We have nothing against the common Gallian Regular, Militiaman, or citizens of your nation. It is your leaders we are fighting. Leaders who send you into battles that you cannot win. Can you truly trust your own commanders, who treat you as if your own lives mean nothing to them? Your Princess Cordelia, and her Generals seek to wage this war for their own benefit. Do such a people truly deserve your loyalty?**_

_**If you surrender, you will be treated with compassion, honor, and respect. The soldiers of the Third Reich are under the strictest orders to accept all Gallian troops that wish to surrender. Simply throw down your weapons and walk to the nearest German patrol with your hands above your head. You have nothing to fear from us if you choose to save your life rather than risk it in senseless violence. You will then receive hot food, medical attention, and a safe place to rest your head. Once the war is over, you shall be free to return to your families and loved ones.**_

_**And when the war ends, both Germans and Gallians will stand side by side and build a brighter future for both of our peoples. We do not ask for submission...but for understanding and loyalty. Surrender to us, and the war will be over for all of you. I promise that. Join us now, and we shall build a future your children and your grandchildren shall look upon with joy and honor. For we are the generation that will usher in a new era upon mankind.**_

_**Long live Kaiser Byzantium zi Britannia! Long live Kaiserina Hrist zi Britannia! Long live the Imperial Germanian Reich!"**_

* * *

German to English translation

1\. _"Hauptmann, die Luftabwehr und ihre Flugzeuge zerstört. Was sind Ihre Aufträge?" _\- Captain, the air defenses and their aircraft are destroyed. What are your orders?

2\. _"Unsere Arbeit hier ist getan. Haben die Transporte lassen ihre Broschüren und lassen Sie uns die Hölle aus hier." _\- Our job here is done. Have the transports drop their pamphlets and let's get the hell out of here.

* * *

**This and the previous chapter were hard for me to write. I don't have that much knowledge on air raids or aerial combat so it was somewhat challenging for me to write about. But I feel like in the end it turned out okay. I hope you guys liked it.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	32. Picking up the Pieces

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_"By about 1:00 pm, the air raid had already ended and the Luftwaffe had left the airspace above Randgriz back for their bases in the German occupied portion of Gallia. This was the time for the Gallians to lick their wounds and count their dead, along with a count of how much damage the city took as well as how many Luftwaffe planes they had managed to shoot down. The final count was not good for Gallians. Total body count was about thirty-eight hundred Regulars and Militiamen killed or seriously wounded in the air strike. Thankfully the losses were lower than usual and didn't extend to the civilians who were already hidden in the subway tunnels before the bombing had actually started. As for the sake of their defenses however, that was a whole other story. Nearly all of the Gallian AA guns had been knocked out of commission and the GRAC fighters that arrived to help suffered heavy losses as well. Out of the three dozen P-40 Warhawks that arrived to help, over two dozen of them had been blown out of the sky by their German counterparts. The Germans lost over three dozen planes in their assault on Randgriz. Even though it was larger than the few planes that the Gallians would have usually shot down prior to that, it wasn't significant enough to make a difference. In short, we had just gotten our asses kicked and handed over to us on a platter. Randgriz was now vulnerable to further air attacks, and our resources were stretched thin as it was. In military jargon we sum that kind of situation as FUBAR, meaning bluntly "Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition"." - Jack Lawrence_

Randgriz, a ruined city now destroyed some more thanks to the Nazi Empire. The city, which before the war was once one of the crowing jewels of European civilization, a city where over a million people once called home, had been turned into a fiery and smoldering heap in little over a month. And with this raid, there was hardly a store, apartment building, or government facility that was left untouched from the hell that rained upon the city. The only building that still remained in pristine condition was once again, Castle Randgriz. It just stood there, it's pristine white exterior shining as a beacon of hope and light within the wasteland of a city that was now surrounding it. Even with the hell that was all around it, the fact that the Germans avoided it seemed to be enough to keep up the spirits of the soldiers and civilians that still remained within the city.

As for them, they were currently busy gathering the dead and clearing whatever rubble possible. Though the surviving Gallian soldiers were the ones that were supposed to be doing the work, thousands of civilians had come out of hiding in the subway to help them out in both the major and minor areas that the attack was concentrated in. One of those areas was in a major residential area that was hit hard, very hard. Squad 7 was there along with the civilians as they worked to clear the rubble, gather the dead, and treat the wounded. It was a slow and weary job as the number of bodies discovered grew and the medical supplies for the wounded were beginning to run low as well. But they had to do whatever they could with what little they had at the moment. For it truly was all that they could do.

Welkin was assisting a gravely wounded Gallian Regular get to the medical station they had managed to set up. The Regular had a large gash in his forehead with blood coming out of it, covering his face. There were also a few more gashes around his torso and arms, evident by the cuts in his uniform and the blood stains around those cuts. Welkin walked alongside him as he helped helped the wounded soldier stumble over to the medical station. After a few minutes, they had arrived and Welkin handed the soldier over to one of the doctors who helped the Regular onto one of the few open mats they had brought out for the wounded.

After Welkin was finished, he looked around to see how the efforts were doing. He had his Engineers working alongside the medics, the Lancers and Shocktroopers, including Rosie and Largo, in a long line with civilians as they were clearing the rubble from some of the nearby buildings, and finally the Scouts and Snipers, Alicia included, were helping with the gathering of the dead and lining them up after placing them in body bags. His eyes darted over to Father Hendricks who had brought out a Holy Bible and crucifix as he began reciting prayers for the dead, making sure that he did it for all of them. Then he looked over to Jack and Isara, who were siting on a large pile of rubble with a large pile of German pamphlets. They went about collecting as many as they could find once the transports delivering them were finally gone. And they had managed to collect a whole lot of them. Finally there was Koller, who stood not far from the duo with his camera out and snapping photos of the relief efforts, most likely for his article in the New York Times.

At this time, the thoughts of all that has transpired was suddenly flooding through his head. So much had happened in the past few days that it took him a while to simply wrap it all around his head. he went over the events of the past few days as he tried to get a good grip at what had happen. They had scored a victory against the Germans in Vasel, rescued the last heir to the Archanean line in Mullow, survived an encounter with the "Darcsen Demon" of the _Waffen SS_, gained the Archanean Liberation Front as a powerful ally in the war, learned of Jack's friendship with the young man considered by many to be Byzantium's chosen successor to inherit the German throne, and had now just defended Randgriz against a massive air raid. A whole lot of things to happen in just a short amount of time.

_How did it all come to this?_, thought Welkin at merely recalling those memories. Before the war he was just a college student waiting to graduate. Now he was this Lieutenant who was trying to lead a group of men and women against the seemingly impossible odds that laid before them. Germania had them on the brink here. Everywhere that he would look the Gallian were facing utter and total defeat at the hands of the German _Wehrmacht_. Their enemy held the advantage on the ground, on the sea, and in the air. Those little victories they've won may have stalled the Germans, but stalling them was all that they have done. If they were going to truly turn the tide and change their current situation, they were going to need to win a major victory that will cripple the German invasion. And the chances of that seemed to be further and further with each passing day.

But now was not the time for such thoughts. Now was the time for him to check up on the relief efforts. He decided that it was best to start off with Largo and Rosie. He strolled over as they were finishing up with clearing the last bits of rubble from the building. As Largo heaved the last piece of stone onto a pile, he looked to Welkin with the same weary and saddened face. One look at him, and Welkin could tell that Largo had only more bad news to tell him than there already was due to today. And with a heavy sigh, he just went out and asked them both "Anyone injured or killed here?"

"No. This place was empty long before the Germans started bombing this section of the city," explained Largo.

"Doesn't mean that some people still choose to live up here despite the bombs drooping on our heads. That just sounds crazy to me," retorted Rosie.

"Well, this city was home to a lot of people before the war. Maybe they just aren't that willing to leave it," considered Welkin, pondering the thought inside of his head. He remembered how he felt when a little over a month ago he, Isara, and Alicia were forced to abandon Bruhl to the German Army the day the war started. He supposed that the people of this city would feel the same way as he did. They don't want to abandon their home. They had lived here all of their lives and can't imagine being forced out by a force beyond their control. But unlike Welkin, who had to flee a few hundred miles away to the capital, the people of this city would only have to travel into the nearby subway tunnels to escape from the war. However, for Welkin, home was far away from him, and under the steel jackboot of the Imperial Germanian Reich. If he wanted to see his home again, he would have to fight all the way back there.

"Well, I get that. That doesn't mean that I'm willing to risk the chance of being blown to smithereens by a Nazi bomb," commented Rosie, apparently not seeing the same sentiment that Welkin did.

"Yet you risk your life anyway by fighting in the Militia," pointed out Largo, noting something that conflicted with what Rosie was saying.

"That's not the same thing. There's a difference," countered Rosie, snapping back at Largo. She clearly did not like his comment.

"Oh really? How?" inquired Largo, not believing Rosie's statement. He was actually curious as to her explanation as to how being killed in the Militia would be any different than dying from a Nazi bombing raid. And she responded just as he expected that she would. She would try to form an answer but ended up falling short and would barely get a few words out before realizing that her answer wouldn't work to prove her claim.

"Well...there's...you see...I um...," said Rosie in her series of partial lines as she tried to explain but failed miserably. Welkin decided to leave the conversation as the two would most likely be occupied with this for now. Welkin figured that he would leave them to that while he checked on the others and see how they were doing with the relief efforts. He walked over to the closest group which so happened to be Koller, Isara, and Jack whom were still preoccupied with their own thoughts as well. Jack and Isara seemed to looking over one of the pamphlets from the pile they had created from collecting every piece of German propaganda that they could get their hands on. Koller was not siting beside the two of them just looking out upon the destroyed landscape before them.

Isara was the first to notice Welkin and got up from her seat on the rubble to greet him. She tried to put on a smile for her brother, hoping to cheer him up when she saw how saddened he looked. However, it was clear to anyone that her smile was forced and she too, felt the same kind of sadness within her. Her smile did work however, managing to get a quick smile on Welkin's face which lasted for a few seconds before returning back to what it was originally. Still though, it helped calm Isara knowing that her brother wasn't lost in all the terrible things that have been happening.

It was like this for everyone in Gallia since the war with the Imperial Germanain Reich began. Everyone was experiencing some kind of sadness and hardship because of this conflict. People had lost family, homes, prized possessions and more. In wars such as these, the politicians and higher ups tend to focus more on the actual fighting going on in the front lines. But what many of them seem to forget is what happens on the homefront and behind the enemy lines to what the civilians are going through. It's them who suffer the most in wars. And it was them who paid the ultimate price for this. The civilians would often be victims caught in crossfire, massacres, or even bombing raids such as the one that just occurred in Randgriz. Thankfully there were organizations such as the International Red Cross that tried to help these people. But there was only so much that they could do, and there were many civilians that will need their help before this conflict is over. Thankfully they were spared the agony, at least for today.

"Hey Welks," said Isara plainly, trying to keep her "happy" persona for Welkin's sake.

Welkin, still carrying his equally fake smile, responded back to Isara "Still hanging in there Is. What about you guys?"

"Well the kid and I just had a good portion of our time wasted in gathering these stupid pamphlets. Why do the Germans have to drop so many?" complained Jack, waiving one of those said pamphlets in his hand. Jack had to admire the persistence of the Germans when they were trying to get their propaganda to the masses. He just sometimes wished that they did it _less_. From his time in Germania, he could not even begin to explain how often he would hear the endless droll of the Nazis preaching about the "superiority of the Nazi beliefs" and the "noble and holy mission" Germania was on and so forth. The Nazis would blare this stuff out on the radio 24/7 and it would just never stop. Sometimes Jack wondered if the people who were making these speeches hated it more than he did.

"Is there anything actually different about it?" asked Welkin, wondering if there was more.

"Other than the fact that this document is written entirely in German as well as an English translation right below it, no," answered Jack, his tone of voice changing very little. It was then that Welkin noticed Koller being unusually quiet. In the few days he had known him, he had usually been this war reporter that was filled with pep and energy. Now he seemed more solemn and depressed about what he was seeing. Welkin didn't understand why though, mainly because Koller's job is to report on what happens in armed conflicts. Perhaps this bombing raid had reminded of something he had seen in his past...one that was not a very pleasant thing to see.

"Something wrong Koller? Do you see something wrong?" asked Welkin.

Without even so much as turning his head, Koller answered back solemnly "Nothing really. Just remembering something from my earlier days as a war reporter."

"What was it?" asked Welkin, admiringly being curious about it.

"I was in Shanghai during the Japanese invasion of China, the one where they conquered Manchuria. I was there from late 1927 to probably before the start of 1930. Compared to this war, the Japanese were more..._brutal_ in their conquest," said Koller, putting some emphasis on the word "brutal".

"Brutal?" asked Isara, curious as to what he was meaning. Before Koller could talk, Jack spoke first.

"Let's just say that sometimes the Japanese may seem worse than the Nazis," explained Jack.

"How so?" inquired Isara.

"The Japanese were a lot better equipped than the Chinese. Add to the fact that they used the current political climate in China to their advantage, they simply steamrolled over the country. They bombed every city, town, and village, regardless of whether or not the Chinese Army was in there or not. And I saw all of that happen right in front of me. There were...so many bodies," said Koller, choking up a bit when remembering the innocent people killed in those bombings.

Jack was well aware of the war that Koller was talking about, for it was all over the news before the Soviet-American War commenced on January of 1932. There was always a sense of hostility between Japan and China for a very long time. Almost a decade after the Great War in Europe had ended, Japan launched a full scale invasion into the Chinese province of Manchuria from their colony of Korea. At the time China was already embroiled in a violent and deadly civil war between the Nationalist government led by Chiang Kai-shek and the rising Communist faction led by the revolutionary Mao Zedong. The two sides were so preoccupied with each other that they failed to establish any major defense against the Japanese onslaught that followed.

The Japanese were relentless in their conquest of Manchuria, seizing much ground in the opening months and wiping out any Chinese force they came upon. Any town they came upon was bombed, looted on worse. The Japanese today still cling to their ancestors samurai code of honor and would rather die than surrender. And while all of that may sound noble, but the truth was far from what they believed. The Japanese soldiers committed numerous atrocities in their campaign in Manchuria, slaughtering tens of thousands of innocent Chinese civilians. One of the major policies of the Japanese Army during that time was to follow something they called "The Three All's", their version of a scorched earth policy. Their soldiers were told to kill all, burn all, and loot all.

After the Japanese conquered Manchuria in the first few months, the war continued on for three more years as the Nationalists and Communists entered a ceasefire agreement in an effort to combine their forces and drive the Japanese invaders off of their soil. But after three years of trying and failing to breach the stubborn Japanese defenses they eventually gave up and signed a treaty to end the war. The Chinese eventually gave Manchuria over to Japan as a result of this treaty.

Hostilities between the two nations were quiet for a while until 1933, where the Japanese renewed their invasion of China. This time the main force of their offensive came from Manchuria. To support their attack they seized control of many major port cities and marched inland from them as well. Their offensive continued to this day, and just recently the Japanese had seized control of the Chinese capital of Nanjing. America tried to intervene in the conflict, but they were limited to supplying the Nationalists and the Communists. Japan is an ally of the Imperial Germanian Reich, and America was concerned that by fighting Japan, it would ultimately lead to a full-scale war between them and the Germans.

The war left a deep impression on Koller. He knew that his job was a dangerous one and that he would see the ugly nature of armed conflict, but what he saw was even worse than he expected. What he saw was the continued butchering, rape, and desensitized killings of the Chinese people by the Japanese who were invading them. As he saw the war alongside the Chinese Army, his pictures brought the horror and the savagery of that conflict, as well as those committed by the Japanese Army, to the eyes of the public. His work helped him make his mark on the world and made him a well known reporter. It was this conflict that started his rise as a war reporter. And it was this war, that made him continue to work in these hostile environments to tell the world what is going on in these wars. And Koller had the nagging feeling that some of the same stuff he had witnessed in the two wars he's been in was going on right now or will happen soon in Gallia.

"Yeah. This isn't the first ruined city I've seen, and most certainly won't be the last one. But at least I managed to get something out of this," said Koller as he raised his camera off of his lap to show Gunther, implying that he had managed to find some good photos to send back to the New York Times, "people are gonna need to know what happened today. If we can't beat the Germans by force...maybe we can do so by the power of the press."

Welkin simply nodded his head in confirmation. Welkin was hoping that Koller would be able to use whatever he could to try and convince the people back in America that this was a fight worth fighting. On their own, Gallia didn't stand much of a chance against the superior German forces. But if they managed to get some more international support for Gallia, her people, and her cause, then maybe there was a chance that they could be able to preserve their independence. And with that in mind, Welkin continued on to meet up with Alicia who was helping Father Hendricks attend to giving the dead their last rights. There was already a large amount of dead they had to gather from this section of the city, evident by the amount of body bags that were before him. They had managed to find over a hundred dead in this area, and after they had collected them and placed them inside the body bags they were lined up in neat little rows and columns with space between them so that Father Hendricks could move past through without having to walk all over them. Right now he was performing one of these rights with Alicia standing next to him. Hendricks had out his Holy Bible and was reciting specific phrases from within the pages while at the same time holding out his crucifix, a clear symbol of his status within the Christian religion. They opened each of the body bags just enough to show their face for Father Hendricks preferred to speak face to face. for even though these men and women were no longer living, they were still people after all and deserve to be treated as human beings.

As he was speaking, Alicia noticed Welkin walking towards them. Quietly as not to disturb Hendricks, she slowly walked away to Welkin, thus allowing Hendricks to continue with his rites. The moment that Alicia got to Welkin, she got right down to asking "How are the others doing?"

"About as well as you would expect considering what just happened. Can't blame them for acting otherwise. What about you? How's your end?" asked Welkin, wondering what news she had to report.

Alicia looks to the body bags and simply says with a hint of sadness "We've gotten all the bodies we could find in the immediate area. The total count is...is...one hundred and thirteen. This number would be saddening to anyone if they had to repeat that phrase. All of these people may have been soldiers, they may have expected that the time would come for them to lay their lives for Gallia, but none of them figured that today would be that day. Alicia just couldn't believe it. All of these people. All of these good men and women...were now gone. They would never see their families again, never get married and have children, nor will they enjoy a drink with their friends at the local tavern. They were now the dearly departed from this world, and Father Hendricks was here to help their souls pass on to the next world above. And after a few moments of silence, Alicia spoke out again. The same amount of pure sadness in her voice emanated from the expression on her face.

"We found one of the soldiers of the Regulars...he was crushed by falling rubble. He was only fifteen._ Fifteen_ Welkin. He was just a kid," spoke a grief stricken Alicia. She still remembered seeing that boys face as they pulled him out. His whole face was covered with blood and there was a large cut within his head, with blood still coming from it and dirtying his blonde hair. That was most likely the injury that had caused his death. The rest of his body had fared no better. Half of his right arm had been obliterated from some kind of explosion and the same could be said for the lower half of his left leg as well. This kid...this fifteen year old boy, who should be in high school and having crushes on teenage girls...was instead lying dead inside of one of these body bags awaiting to be sent to his family who will no doubt burst into hysteria and tears upon hearing of his death. Another family that would be stricken with grief because of this war and it's consequences.

"Has Father Hendricks-" asked Welkin, wondering if Father Hendricks had given him his final rights. Before he could finish the sentence, Alicia answered his question for him.

"He's doing it right now. I asked him if he could give it to him next," answered Alicia, pointing to Father Hendricks whom was about ten paces away and just beginning to give this boy his rites. Welkin noted how Alicia was staring intently at what Hendricks was doing. It was evident to Welkin how torn up Alicia was about this young teenager's death. He wasn't that much younger than she was, and there were many times during the raid that she may have ended up sharing the same fate that had befallen upon him. He remembered the same look upon her face in the aftermath of the retaking of Vasel when she told him of what happened with the German soldiers in the house and in the alley. He remembered how shaken up she was by what she saw and what she had endured. Most people would be utterly broken and devastated by that experience, but not Alicia. She was tougher than most people, Welkin was sure of that.

Strange as it is, he actually admired that about Alicia. She wasn't willing to just roll over and die. She would kick, scratch, and punch back at whoever threatens her and still come out on top. Welkin couldn't explain it, but he felt that there was something more here...something more about Alicia that he liked. And no doubt that whatever it is, it would probably help their friendship and make it grow stronger. Of that, Welkin was sure of. And as a gesture to help calm her worries, he placed the gloved palm of his hand upon her shoulder. Within seconds, Alicia looked over to him, surprised by the kind gesture. What she saw was Welkin's face, with a look on it that said _'It's going to be alright Alicia'_.

For some reason, it actually managed to calm Alicia down. Somehow, Welkin had just managed to wash away all of her worries in a matter of seconds...just from a reassuring look upon his face. Heck, he had managed to get Alicia to crack a small smile upon her face. Perhaps, just perhaps, there was more to Welkin than she had originally thought. At first she thought of him as this carefree college student with a strange love for nature. But after seeing him lead Squad 7, she had to admit that she was originally wrong about him. Whatever happened next, she was glad to admit that she would always be by his side.

* * *

_The outskirts of the forest on the other side of Lake Graz_

_1315 hours (1:15 pm)_

Hiding in the thick brush right at the outskirts of the forest, two Gallian soldiers, a man and a woman in dark uniforms laid prone on the ground, using the thick shrubs and bushes as camouflage which also helped to obscure their features. The woman was looking through binoculars to survey what was happening on the horizon while the other stood by with a radio. On the horizon, they saw a very large column of German trucks, tanks, half-tracks, and more as they made their way down the road that lead straight to the main encampment being used by the German forces currently laying seize to the vitally strategic fortress of Aslone. By the sheer volume of troops and vehicles moving, they could estimate that this force was most likely a whole division of reinforcements heading to Aslone, about forty thousand men and women strong. Such a number would be too much for the fortress's garrison who was already struggling to hold off the frequent German assaults as it was. If they managed to group up with the main force at the fort, they would most likely overwhelm them and simply march on to Randgriz virtually unopposed.

These two Gallians could only be impressed by the sheer might of the German military. They were simply marching without a care in the world, completely confident that soon the war would be over with a Nazi victory. This was evident by the song that the Nazis were singing as they moved down the road. They probably had reason to. There was no significant Gallian force for miles so they were't worried about being heard. And since there was little chance of an attack by air due to Germania's superiority in the air, this only added to their assurance of safety. And on they went, continuing to march and sing away without a care in the world as loud as they possibly could. And it was being sung so loudly that the two Gallians could hear them from so far away.

_Wehrmacht marschiert in Feindesland,_  
_Und singt ein Teufelslied._  
_Ein Schütze steht am Oderstrand,_  
_Und leise summt er mit._  
_Wir pfeifen auf Unten und Oben,_  
_Und uns kann die ganze Welt_  
_Verfluchen oder auch loben,_  
_Grad wie es ihnen gefällt._

_|: Wo wir sind da geht's immer vorwärts,_  
_Und der Teufel der lacht nur dazu!_  
_Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!_  
_Wir kämpfen für Deutschland,_  
_Wir kämpfen für Lelouch,_  
_Der Gallian kommt nie mehr zur Ruh'. :|_

_|: Wo wir sind da geht's immer vorwärts,_  
_Und der Teufel der lacht nur dazu!_  
_Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!_  
_Wir kämpfen für Deutschland,_  
_Wir kämpfen für Kallen,_  
_Der Gallian kommt nie mehr zur Ruh'. :|_

_Wir kämpften schon in mancher Schlacht,_  
_In Nord, Süd, Ost und West._  
_Und stehen nun zum Kampf bereit,_  
_Gegen die Gallian Pest._  
_Wehrmacht wird nicht ruh'n wir vernichten,_  
_Bis niemand mehr stört Deutschlands Glück._  
_Und wenn sich die Reihen auch lichten,_  
_Für uns gibt es nie ein Zurück._

_|: Wo wir sind da geht's immer vorwärts,_  
_Und der Teufel der lacht nur dazu!_  
_Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!_  
_Wir kämpfen für Deutschland,_  
_Wir kämpfen für Lelouch,_  
_Der Gallian kommt nie mehr zur Ruh'. :|_

_|: Wo wir sind da geht's immer vorwärts,_  
_Und der Teufel der lacht nur dazu!_  
_Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!_  
_Wir kämpfen für Deutschland,_  
_Wir kämpfen für Kallen,_  
_Der Gallian kommt nie mehr zur Ruh'. :|_

From some of the parts they could make out, they knew without a doubt that they were speaking about Prince Lelouch and Princess Kallen vi Britannia, the very prominent members of the Nazi Royal Family. They were also well known throughout the Gallian military for their battlefield victories during the Border Skirmishes and how under their dual leadership they have crushed many opponents without losing a single battle. If they were here in Gallia, then things were about to get very desperate, very fast. They knew they had to send a message back to their superiors as quickly as possible. The future of the war effort may depend upon it. The woman began relaying what she saw back to the man who set about sending a message back to Fort Amaranthine via the radio in Morse Code. The message stated the following.

_"To Lieutenant Colonel Ramsey Crowe. Forward Scouts Reporting. Large German Force. Division Strength. Panzer and Artillery Support. On Route to Aslone. Fortress Need Reinforcements Urgently. Caution Advised. Black Prince and Red Lotus in Gallia. Repeat: Black Prince and Red Lotus in Gallia. Alert High Command. No. 7 "Kurt Irving" and No. 13 "Riela Marcellis" Out." _

* * *

German to English Translation.

German

_Wehrmacht marschiert in Feindesland,_  
_Und singt ein Teufelslied._  
_Ein Schütze steht am Oderstrand,_  
_Und leise summt er mit._  
_Wir pfeifen auf Unten und Oben,_  
_Und uns kann die ganze Welt_  
_Verfluchen oder auch loben,_  
_Grad wie es ihnen gefällt._

_|: Wo wir sind da geht's immer vorwärts,_  
_Und der Teufel der lacht nur dazu!_  
_Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!_  
_Wir kämpfen für Deutschland,_  
_Wir kämpfen für Lelouch,_  
_Der Gallian kommt nie mehr zur Ruh'. :|_

_|: Wo wir sind da geht's immer vorwärts,_  
_Und der Teufel der lacht nur dazu!_  
_Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!_  
_Wir kämpfen für Deutschland,_  
_Wir kämpfen für Kallen,_  
_Der Gallian kommt nie mehr zur Ruh'. :|_

_Wir kämpften schon in mancher Schlacht,_  
_In Nord, Süd, Ost und West._  
_Und stehen nun zum Kampf bereit,_  
_Gegen die Gallian Pest._  
_Wehrmacht wird nicht ruh'n wir vernichten,_  
_Bis niemand mehr stört Deutschlands Glück._  
_Und wenn sich die Reihen auch lichten,_  
_Für uns gibt es nie ein Zurück._

_|: Wo wir sind da geht's immer vorwärts,_  
_Und der Teufel der lacht nur dazu!_  
_Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!_  
_Wir kämpfen für Deutschland,_  
_Wir kämpfen für Lelouch,_  
_Der Gallian kommt nie mehr zur Ruh'. :|_

_|: Wo wir sind da geht's immer vorwärts,_  
_Und der Teufel der lacht nur dazu!_  
_Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!_  
_Wir kämpfen für Deutschland,_  
_Wir kämpfen für Kallen,_  
_Der Gallian kommt nie mehr zur Ruh'. :|_

English

Wehrmacht march in enemies land,  
and sings a devil's song.  
A rifleman stands on the Oder's shore,  
and silently he hums along.  
We care about nothing around us,  
and can us the entire world,  
they can curse or praise us,  
just as everyone pleases.

|: Where we go it is always forward!  
And the devil merely laughs,  
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!  
We fight for Germania.  
We fight for Lelouch.  
The Gallians never come to rest. :|

|: Where we go it is always forward!  
And the devil merely laughs,  
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!  
We fight for Germania.  
We fight for Kallen.  
The Gallians never come to rest. :|

We fought before in many wars,  
in North, South, East, and West.  
And standing now, prepared to fight,  
against the Gallian plague.  
Wehrmacht shall not rest, we annihilate,  
until no one disturbs Germania's happiness.  
And even if our line thins,  
for us we shall never retreat.

|: Where we go it is always forward!  
And the devil merely laughs,  
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!  
We fight for Germania.  
We fight for Lelouch.  
The Gallians never come to rest. :|

|: Where we go it is always forward!  
And the devil merely laughs,  
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!  
We fight for Germania.  
We fight for Kallen.  
The Gallians never come to rest. :|

* * *

**I decided to focus on the aftermath of the German air raid, get into the thoughts of the squad as they look over the carnage and the destruction it had wrought upon the city. I'm not sure if I did well but I guess we'll find out one way or another. This chapter also marks the first appearance of Squad 422, "The Nameless" from Valkyria Chronicles 3. This initial appearance is only a cameo but I plan to give them some more appearances as time goes on.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	33. Lelouch's Declaration of War

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Ghirlandaio City Airfield, Headquarters of the 915th Air Squadron of the Luftwaffe_

_German occupied Ghirlandaio City_

_1445 hours (2:45 pm)_

Since Ghirlandaio City was a pretty large town in the industrial regions of the North, it stemmed to reason that the city would have an airport. Before the war it was primarily used to transport Ragnite and other goods as well as vacationers. But now, with the German invasion it had been converted to serve the German invasion forces in their ongoing invasion of Gallia, much like everything else inside of the city. The factories were being used to build munitions, hotels used as barracks for the occupying garrison, and even the Ragnite mines sending raw Ragnite back into Germania. And all of this made possible by the occupants of the city that were forced to work there for "the sake of their Reich and it's valiant, noble mission". There they worked under the iron gaze of their Nazi overlords, who would look for any signs of resistance to their occupation. And if they did find any, they were often put down, harshly, before they could do any real trouble.

At the local airfield, they had taken away all of the civilian planes and stripped them down for scrap and other useful materials that could be melted down and made into something else that the Germans want or needed. They had given this airfield over to the _Luftwaffe_, who in turn placed one of their best squadrons at this airfield to use as their headquarters. These pilots were members of the 915th Air Squadron, a special unit created by the _Luftwaffe_ to be a crack fighter and bomber squadron that was comprised entirely of the best pilots in the Imperial Germanian Reich. These were the pilots who's skills were unmatched and their pilot's kill counts totaled more than every other squadron in the _Luftwaffe_ combined. They earned their reputation as the Reich's most noble and honorable squadron (mostly from the influence of their Captain). It also earned them both the admiration and respect of pilots from all the other major powers in Europa. And another thing that made their squadron remarkable was that in their entire combat history they had not lost a single pilot or plane to the enemy. Even on today's mission where their Captain, Emilia von Richthofen went out on her own with other elements of the _Luftwaffe_ fighting in Gallia

Before their arrival on the Gallian Front, they had just finished a tour of duty on Germania's borders along the Balkan Confederacy. Tacking with the Serbian and Romanian Air Forces with Russian supplied planes. They had good planes, but sadly, not enough of them compared to the Nazi Reich. Didn't mean that they didn't put up a heck of a fight. It took a few long weeks of dogfights before they managed to halt the Confederacy's probing raids and have them adopt a more defensive policy instead of an offensive one. They helped prove crucial in securing Germania's southern borders. And when Maximilian was assembling the army to assault Gallia, the 915th were the first ones called upon to make up the air support for the Blitzkrieg. With them leading the rest of the _Luftwaffe_ squadrons, they helped cripple the Gallian Royal Air Corps to the state that it's in now. And after the first few days of the offensive, the squadron was stationed at the Ghirlandaio City Airfield on standby. They had been sent out on little to no actual combat missions aside from a few scouting runs on areas that were planned to be assaulted by the _Wehrmacht_. However, things were quite different today.

Approaching the airfield from the southwest, the lone Me 262 piloted by Emilia von Richthofen soared towards the airfield, preparing for a landing. As she began her final descent she decelerated her plane, lowered her landing gear on her wings and in the nose which is a rarity for modern aircraft, and lined up her plane with the lines on the runway. After a few more minutes, she touched down on the runway, shaking the plane and her inside from the sudden landing. And after traveling several meters from the moment of her landing, she managed to get the plane to stop. using the joystick and thrust controls, she managed to give the jet fighter enough juice to move it forward at a steady pace, navigating her craft to come into one of the nearby hanger buildings. As she approached the hanger, the airfield crews opened up the doors to allow her in.

The hanger was filled with several parked Me 109's that were surrounded by various pieces of equipment, ammunition, and fuel drums carrying Ragnoline for the planes. Each one had two to three technicians and mechanics working on them to make sure that they were combat ready for the squadron's next assignment. Even though very few of the pilots had been in combat for the past month it was kind of an unofficial policy for them to be ready for battle at a moments notice. Emilia maneuvered her plane into the free spot in the middle of the hanger, making sure that her plane was parked facing towards the hanger doors. Once the plane was in place she flipped a switch, shutting the engines off completely after a few seconds. Now that her plane was parked, she removed her seat belt and opened the canopy of her plane, and pulled her self out of the pilot's seat. One of the mechanics noticed her leaving and placed a ladder next to the cockpit. She kindly accepted his gesture and slid down the ladder before hopping off onto the ground at the last second.

Once she was on the ground, Emilia removed her flight helmet, therefore releasing her long brown hair which was tied up in a single long braid which upon released from the confines of the helmet gently fell and rested upon her right shoulder. Emilia loosened the collar of her flight jacket to reveal an Iron Cross medal that she used as part of her necklace. This was given to her by her father upon her graduation from the New Berlin Imperial Military Academy at the age of sixteen. He told her to think of it as a kind of good luck charm to help her the air battles she would fight in. Emilia wore it all the time, even when she was out on a mission she wore this Iron Cross. Some of her fellow pilots claimed that it had become her signature trademark. For her though, it was something that would help her get through all the combat she's faced. Make her feel as if her father was with her as she flew in the skies of Europe and guiding her through all she faced.

"Captain Richthofen!" called out a distant voice. Emilia looked to where that voice was coming from to see the officer in charge of the airfield's security forces. His name was Sergeant Hans Schultz, her lovable and favorite subordinate. He was a man in his late forties and a veteran of the Great War. He was a rotund man, which wasn't a desirable trait for a front line soldier. However, due to his age and physical condition, he was placed on security duty on bases well behind the front lines of the Border Skirmishes as well as the current war with Gallia. He had weathered features, green eyes, and grey hair, along with a grey mustache. He was wearing a the standard German uniform with an overcoat over it as well as a German _Stahlhelm_ covering his grey hair. He had slung over his shoulder a Kar98k bolt-action rifle.

Emilia liked having the Sergeant here. She had met him when he provided security for the first airbase she was stationed at during the Border Skirmishes. And when the 915th was formed, he was placed along with them and once again placed in charge of the security of their airbases as the squadron travels from location to location. Emilia had a good relationship with Sergeant Schultz and thought of him like a loving uncle. Plus, Schultz was also friends with her father, Baron Manfred von Richthofen and head of the Luftwaffe. They had met during their service in the Great War and quickly became close friends. In fact, they were so close that Schultz was actually Emilia's godfather. This allowed him to get along with her pretty well. He was very friendly, easy to get along with, and did his job pretty well in Emilia's opinion as they had not had a major breach in security since the squadron was formed. He would often talk to her after each mission with updates or anything that required her attention since she was the Captain in charge of the 915th Air Squadron. Other than that they would talk about other things such as how their families were doing, current events, or other things. Today, Emilia wondered what it was he had to report today.

"Ah, Schultz. Nice to see you," greeted Emilia as she saw Schultz approached her.

"And it is good to see you too Captain as well. How did your mission go?" he asked.

"It was a success. We took down the AA guns and wiped out two dozen Gallian pilots. Pretty much the same as usual," reported Emilia as she took off her gloves and put them in her pocket. She looked to Schultz and gave him a smile which he returned back. The duo began walking towards the door leading out of the hanger when Schultz started the conversation again.

"Did you deliver the Prince's message?" asked Schultz

"Yes I did. Dropped it right in the middle of Fort Amaranthine's courtyard," answered Emilia.

"Why did you drop it in the middle of the Gallian headquarters?" wondered Schultz as to the reason why she did that.

"To make sure that they would actually read it," she responded in her own little way.

"Ah, that makes more sense. How many planes did you shoot down today?" he asked.

"Five. The AA guns on the ground don't count," explained Emilia.

"Five eh? That brings your grand total to about...um...what would it be?" wondered Schultz, trying to figure out how many planes Emilia had shot down as of today.

Before Schultz could ponder any further, Emilia answered the question for him by saying "It would bring my count to a grand total of three hundred and thirty-five."

"Ah, right. Once again it explains why you are the Red Baron's daughter and the best Ace in the entire _Luftwaffe_. You know, I'm pretty sure that you would give your father a run for his money one day," commented Schultz until suddenly his face lit up with remembering what something important as he opened the door for her so that they both could leave the hanger "Oh, that reminds me. Your father contacted the base. He's coming over to Ghirlandaio City for a few days to view the squadron. He'll be arriving tomorrow night. He would also like to know how our new plane performed. The Messerschmidt Company is eagerly awaiting the results of the Me 262's first combat run."

"I'll call my father back once I get back to my office. I'd rather give my opinion about the plane to him in person. Until then, business as usual. Oh, I have one last thing," mentioned Emilia, coming to full stop in her walk.

"And what is that?" asked Schultz, curious as to what it was she wanted.

"No one touch's the plane. I think I'm going to keep it," answered Emilia as she gave Schultz a salute before walking away towards her office. Schultz simply gave her a salute back and then went back to his duties in patrolling the airfield and checking on the security measures taken to protect the base.

* * *

_Fort Amaranthine Conference Room_

_1822 hours (6:22 pm)_

_"The air raid had gotten Gallian High Command all riled up. With Randgriz's air defenses severely crippled, it caused them to convene and try and figure their next plan of attack and quickly. Our victory at the Vasel Bridge showed our enemies that the Gallians weren't easy targets like they thought. And this shook them up. If a small country could stand against him and win, it would give Germania's enemies the impression that the country is vulnerable. And that was something Byzantium didn't want. He didn't want to see a whole country unite one banner and kick out his army. He would raze Randgriz to the ground before he'd admit that a small country had defeated him. Even though most of Gallia's Generals were incompetent like that of General Damon, they were smart enough to know that by now Byzantium would have made plans and issued orders for them to seize control of Randgriz by any means necessary. They had to figure out how to stop them." - Jack Lawrence_

In the conference room of Fort Amaranthine, all of the Generals, Colonels, Majors, and even a few Captains had gathered for the meeting. The large, circular wooden table took up much of the floor, and the walls were covered with various maps of Europe, Gallia, the Imperial Germanian Reich, and several other vital areas of Europe. They used them to help plan their strategies and attack plans. Currently, they were assessing the Gallian militaries capabilities at this point to decide whether or not they had the strength to perform any actual military offensive against the Nazis. Whether Gallia would win or be reabsorbed back into the Nazi Reich depended upon the choices that they made. And right now, their choices were pretty limited. The Gallian Navy had been all but destroyed by the German naval blockade. The only vessels that the Gallians had left were a handful of destroyers and submarines. The best they could do was do hit and run tactics at the German warships with their cannons and torpedoes. The GRAC fared no better, for they had only a few dozen planes left to face against the hundreds being used by the _Luftwaffe_. They tried to cover the ground forces as best they could but they were being stretched way too thin to actually do anything but stay on the defensive. That left them with only the Gallian Militia and the Regular Army. While combined they had many troops and vehicles, the Germans had them outnumbered in both by at least a 3 to 1 ratio. They were going to have to be very precise as to where and when they carry out any ground offensive. And with the lack of air support any actual offensive would be hindered by the _Luftwaffe's_ air superiority.

This people who were attending this meeting were typical of those throughout history, with men and women ranging from their thirties to late fifties in fancy uniforms and wearing many shiny medals. These officers were from both the Militia and the Regulars, along with the GRAC and Navy. Most of these officers were of noble birth, having their attained their positions through family connections, money, or other lucrative way. While some had military experience from their days of service in the Great War, many had little to no knowledge of how to fight a war, much less win one. But either way, they hold the fate of this war within their hands.

There were several main people in this meeting, and their influence would be critical in deciding their next move. Captain Varrot was there sitting in the Militia section of the table tapping away at the table with her fingers as this meeting dragged on. Damon was there as well, even though he was a General, he apparently held seniority over the other commanders, making him the head of the Gallian military. The one who was second in seniority to him was General Gilbert Gassenarl, head of the Gallian Forces protecting the south. He is a man of fantastic shape, both physically and mentally for a man of forty-eight. He had grey hair and a grey mustache, along with wearing a pair of shaded spectacles. His uniform was dark blue like the rest of the Gallian Regular officers with the exception that his had gold colored trimmings along with a blue and black cape. He had served with the Gallian Army when the Germans invaded in the Great War and has been since. He knew Belgen Gunther and respected the man greatly, even after his passing in 1926. The man was known for his intense hatred of the Darcsens, common for his kind.

Gilbert Gassenarl is a Count and the head of House Gassenarl, a large and prominent noble house located in Southern Gallia. They are one of the oldest noble houses in Gallia, rivaling House Randgriz in power and influence. They once a major player in Gallian politics until they had a falling out with the rulers of Gallia. Since then, House Gassenarl has focused on maintaining their power in the south. They're also one of the most conservative houses, always eager to maintain the power of the nobility over the common people. They are also known as having a very strong hatred of both Darcsens and foreigners. But unlike most of the noble officers in the Gallian military, they were competent officers. In fact thanks to their leadership southern Gallia remained unoccupied, with the Germans only able to control the port cities, the Ardennes Forest, and the immediate surrounding area for all of them.

Gilbert had two children, both of them were serving in the Gallian Regulars as high ranking officers, and both were present at this meeting sitting on either side of their father. On Gilbert's left was his son, Lieutenant Colonel Baldren Gassenarl. He is a man of twenty four years, silver hair slicked back, and silver eyes. He wore the standard Gallian officer's uniform except with a few changes. He had elaborate golden colored epaulets and cuffs, and wore a thin steel chest piece, similar to that worn by cavalrymen in the Napoleonic era, that covered his entire torso from front to back, as well as knee high military boots with gold trimmings. Along with the Colt 1911 he kept in his holster he also wore an officer's rapier tucked inside of it's sheathe. Baldren is a man who is a firm believer that he fights for the right reasons. He is extremely patriotic and protective of Gallia as a country. Baldren is the type of man who spares the table manners and cuts deep to the obvious stakes on the table, often to the annoyance of his father. His sharp tongue is often the cause of much discomfort to those with anything but the purest of intentions for Gallia itself. A gifted military man, Baldren is proficient in every military branch and stirs his men to action by standing fearlessly on the front lines. Baldren, like the rest of his family, also possesses a burning hatred for Darcsens, believing that Gallians have "pure blood" flowing through their veins and Darcsens need to be purged from the continent.

His sister, Audrey Gassenarl, sat on her father's right side. She was a beautiful twenty-three year old woman who had brown eyes, and waist length blonde hair that was tied into a long braid that rested against her shoulder before dangling in front of her uniform. Her uniform was completely different from any other officer that was present at the meeting. It was completely white with gold trimmings, buttons, epaulets, straps, and belt. She wore a cape that was white on the top side and black on the underside. The cape also had a black fur outline along the edges and covered her shoulders, upper arms, and back, stopping just above her waist. She also wore white pants and black, knee high military boots like her brother except hers had higher heels. lastly she wore white military gloves, wore two large black punches attached to her belt, a dagger that was strapped to her belt as well, and finally a necklace that had a blue Valkyria spiral, a symbol of those who worship Yggdism. Audrey supports her brother as his second-in-command on the Southern Front. In contrast to her hot-blooded and idealistic brother, Audrey is a realist who tends to take a calm and calculated approach to all situations. Audrey has demonstrated an uncanny talent for both military and political pursuits, and she has come to be known and feared by the nickname "Battle Maiden of the Iron Horse" for her talents in leading Gallia's tank forces. Audrey is a devout Yggdist and places all of her faith in the power of the Valkyrur, and as of this, she has been one of House Randgriz's biggest supporters for they are said to have the blood of the Valkyrur flowing through their veins as well as developing a deep hatred of the Darcsens and foreigners.

Another important figure was Lieutenant Colonel Ramsey Crowe, the thirty-four year old head of the Gallian Special Forces Division. Crowe had combed back red-orange hair, mustache, and stubble which indicated that he hadn't shave in a while. He was more laid back in his uniform than the other Gallian officers. His blue overcoat was completely unbuttoned , revealing his white undershirt and dogtags. His sleeves were folded up to his elbows and the man was smoking out of an old smoking pipe. Exemplifying the phrase "rough around the edges," Ramsey Crowe is a man who does not fit the traditional image of army brass, especially in Gallia. This apparently made him the best choice to lead the Black Ops and Special Forces of the Gallian Military. Unlike most members of Gallian High Command he earned his place among them, it wasn't handed out to him on a silver platter. However he didn't expect or desire any promotions and had already lost any passion he might have previously had for life. Most members of the staff don't think very highly of Crowe. In fact, they think the complete opposite. They usually call him "lazy, useless Crowe" whenever his name would come up in a conversation. It seems that the man's only real love is booze and women. However, out of everyone in this staff, Ramsey Crowe is the one who understands Gallia's tactical and political position the best. And he is known to call out on superior officers if their ideas tend to make things worse in his opinion rather than better.

Then there was Major General Carl Eisler. A man of forty-two years, a clean shaven face, blue eyes, blonde hair and mustache, and finally a well kept Gallian uniform. Minus the uniform, one look at him and he could pass off as a German officer just based on his appearance. Eisler graduated top of his class from Lanseal Royal Military Academy and quickly rose through the ranks to become one of the key officers among the Gallian High Command. Out of anyone in that room, he was by far the most paranoid out of the bunch. Anytime he thinks someone poses a threat to his position, he will cook up a clever plan to eliminate the perceived threat. He is constantly viewing others with suspicion, has never truly trusted anyone, and hasn't expressed a romantic interest in women. Eisler has a somewhat theatrical manner of speech and maintains an air of gentility. The man has always been terribly disappointed with the Gallian Army's inferior combat skills and tactical prowess given to them by High Command's decisions. He believed along with many others that a change was needed if Gallia's military was going to have any chance to win this war.

The last of the most influential members of this High Command was Lieutenant General Laurence Kluivert. At fifty-nine, he was an elderly General as well as a veteran of the Great War along with Gilbert Gassenarl and the late Belgen Gunther. His emerald green eyes, grey hair, along with his waxed beard and mustache helped show off the years of experience that he had tucked under his belt. Kluivert was the scion of a noble family that had produced officers for the Gallian military for generations. Kluivert was expected to carry on the family tradition and enlisted but an accident prevented him from being deployed right on the front lines of the Great War. However, his abilities as a staff officer enabled him to continue to rise throughout the ranks and serve under General Belgen Gunther. After the Great War ended, he was promoted to his current rank and placed at Lanseal Royal Military Academy as it's headmaster. In addition to overseeing the school, Laurence acted as the liaison between the school to the army's chain of command. This was needed now more than ever. Due to how much the Gallian forces were spread thin, the Lanseal cadets, barely even finished with their training, were being sent to the front lines as "Special Lanseal Combat Units". As the saying goes, "desperate times called for desperate measures". And this was a desperate measure indeed if they were bringing in military cadets into battle against a hardened and brutal enemy.

The remaining several dozen members at this meeting were a mix of competent and incompetent officers from all the remaining branches of Gallia's military. At this point, all that was occurring in this meeting was a lot of disagreements and arguments. They couldn't agree on what it is they should do.

"The point is that we lack the manpower, the vehicles, or the supplies to mount any kind of meaningful offensive. At best all we can do at the moment is try and establish some kind of defensive line in the hopes that we'll be able to weather out the German's," said Kluivert, explaining their dire situation.

"I hate to say this but I agree with him," added Crowe from across the table "I'm afraid the Germans have us all dead to rights. There isn't much that we can do."

"Are the two of you suggesting that we should just give up and surrender to the Germans? Hand over to them Gallia on a silver platter?" accused Baldren, not liking what he was hearing. He couldn't believe that they were possibly giving up on the war effort.

"No that isn't what we're saying. What we're saying is that we should probably focus on fighting a defensive war instead of an offensive one," defended Kluivert.

"Well we can't take back our country if we simply stay on the defensive," countered Audrey, who was quite adamant on the subject.

"And if we send our entire army on some fools charge we'll likely lose the war either way!" shouted Eisler.

At this point another member of the Gallian High Command made his voice heard when he cleared his through, signalling the others to stop talking and listen to what he had to say, which they seemed to do. The man who wished to speak was Commodore Adam Harrington, one of the newer additions to this council. He was a man in his late twenties, exactly twenty-eight years old, certainly younger than most of the officers here. He had brown eyes and brown hair cut in a military buzz cut. His uniform was common of the Gallian Navy, being the same dark blue as the Gallian Regulars but with more white trimmings instead of gold trimmings. His Navy officer's cap was snow white with the rim, bill, and inside being colored blue and held the Gallian Navies coat of arms in the front of the cap. The Commodore was one of few surviving officers in the Gallian Navy, the rest having been killed in action because of the war. He attended the Gallian Royal Naval Academy in Amsterdam, a port city in northern Gallia. After his graduation he managed to skillfully get the rank of Commodore due to his intelligence and skills. Now he was using them to lead what little was left of Gallia's Navy to the best of his ability. He had a suggestion for this meeting that he had long been considering. Perhaps his idea could be their answer but he wasn't going to be that confident in it.

"What is it Harrington?" groaned Damon, wondering what the man was getting to.

"I don't mean to interrupt General but I do have an idea as to our predicament. I don't expect everyone to agree with it but if it works it could solve all our problems and help us win the war," explained Harrington, laying out his case to them.

"This should prove interesting. We're all ears Commodore," commented Gilbert Gassenarl, eager to hear what he had to say.

"Well this is what I'm trying to say here. On our own we don't have much a chance against fighting the Reich. They possess all the advantages in this war. They have more troops, tanks, aircraft, warships, supplies, you name it. Even though we're receiving military supplies from the United States along with several other parties supportive of our cause, it's not enough. What we need is something more...powerful if we're going to win this war," explained Harrington, trying to get his point across. He could see that he had gotten their attention and wanted it that way. Now he was just nervous about them actually agreeing to the main point of his idea that he was about to explain.

"And just what is it that you are explaining Commodore?" questioned Damon, wondering where on Earth he was going with this.

And now for the Commodore's punch line "Well what I'm suggesting is...maybe we should try and make a case to the Americans and try to convince them to send their military here and help us fight the war."

This was met with cries out outrage and surprise by many members of this meeting. They didn't seem to like the idea of throwing away their pride and go beg to the Americans to save their sorry asses. And some just didn't like the idea of having foreigners fight their war for them. The Germans were invading _their_ country and they would fight them off with _Gallian_ forces. They didn't need the Americans to come and fight off the Nazis for them. Baldren and Audrey were among the most vocal when it came to this, and their voices could be heard even among the other shouts and screams of the other officers.

"Are you insane?! Their military didn't come to help us in the Great War, so what in the name of the Holy Valkyrur would they have to come and help us now?!" proclaimed Audrey, clearly disgusted by Harrington's suggestion. Her brother felt the same.

"I would rather die before I see the Americans defile Gallia with their presence! Nor will I see any of us sell our nation over to them either!" exclaimed Baldren. However, there were still some who managed to support Harrington's suggestion. People like Kluivert, Crowe, and finally Varrot.

"The Americans have the strength to turn the _Wehrmacht_ back!" said Kluivert.

"The Nazis fear the Americans more than anything else in this world. With them we can win this war and bring the fight to New Berlin!" suggested Varrot.

As Commodore Adam Harrington slumped into his seat and lowered his head in defeat, everyone seemed to be oblivious to Lucina whom had entered the room escorted by one of her rebel soldiers. In her hand was a folded piece of paper which she needed to show to them all. However when she entered the room, the sight of arguing men and women arguing over possibly some highly debatable topic. It was clear that she was going to have to do something if she was to tell them the importance of what was on this paper. At first she tried to politely shout out phrases such as "excuse me" or "pardon" but she didn't get very far with that idea. She would then have to resort to drastic measures, and she knew just how to do it. First she whispered what she was going to do into her soldier's ear which he acknowledged by exiting the room through the door that the two of them came in on. After the door was shut, Lucina looked to the still squabbling Generals and cleared her throat. And with a deep breath she let out a high pitched and shrilling scream that caused them all to cease with their bickering and covered their ears to try and save their eardrums from bursting. This continued on for a few seconds until Lucina's screaming stopped and the Gallian officers finally were able to relax from what had just happened. Varrot was the first one of them to recover from her screech and speak about what had just happened.

"Princess Lucina...might I ask why you did that?" inquired Varrot, her ears still ringing slightly.

"Well I tried doing it in the most polite way that I could ponder, but sadly I ran out of solutions. This was the only alternative available to me," explained Lucina.

"I'm sorry but who are you?" inquired Gilbert, obviously not have seen her before.

Damon, who had recovered as well, finally got up and addressed the others. "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Princess Lucina of the Archanean Liberation Front. She is our new ally in this war that I mentioned earlier today."

Eisler then got up from his seat and shook the young woman's hand. Then with a smile he bowed slightly before her and spoke modestly "Ah, so you are the Archanean Royal we've heard so much about. It is an honor to make you acquaintance your majesty. Major General Carl Eisler at your service."

"It is a pleasure to meet you too General," responded Lucina, giving a slight bow in return before Eisler returned back to his seat.

"Is there a reason that you decided to interrupt this meeting or did you do this just to waste our time?" interrupted Damon, wondering what all of this was for. He would soon get his answer as Lucina pulled out the piece of paper she had folded in her hand.

"The bomb that landed in the courtyard of the Fort is one designed during the Great War. It was supposed to deliver messages like this one that we found inside," she explained.

"What's so special about the one in your hand?" inquired Crowe, pointing to the paper that she was holding.

"Because this was written and signed by a very prominent person in the Nazi Reich. A royal in fact since it bears the Nazi Families Royal Seal. And he had it dropped here so that we would read it," she clarified. This announcement gave way to some murmurs among the Gallian Officers. Whomever wrote this letter clearly wanted it to be read by them and most likely used the air raid as cover to allow the famed _Grey Siren_ to deliver the message personally.

"You all should listen to this. It's not something you should ignore," warned Lucina who instantly began to read the letter, translating the German lettering to English.

_"To the commander of the Gallian Militia's Squad 7 of the 3rd Regiment,_

_I have taken notice of your abilities as a commander and I must say that I am quite impressed. The way you took back Vasel was quite remarkable. Driving a tank underwater and using the bridge to plunge an entire Wehrmacht Battalion into the river was an ingenious tactic to say the least. You seem to have quite the talent for coming up with plans to defeat our armies. By now you're probably wondering who I am and why I have an interest in you. To tell you the truth I am a man of great importance to the Reich, and I have come to Gallia for two reasons. One: my brother, Kaiser Byzantium zi Britannia, has grown quite impatient on how long this campaign has taken. You could say that your country has put up a much greater resistance than anyone in my country had anticipated. He has sent me here along with an entire Wehrmacht division and some of my best troops here to end this stalemate and take Randgriz. The second reason I'm here is this: You. _

_I have come to settle a little feud between your family and mine. Your father and my mother fought each other in the Great War, and now it looks like you and I as destined to finish their battles. I have have many Generals in the Border Skirmishes from French to Italians, Romanians, Serbians, and Russians. All of them had decades of experience and more troops than you did. But I managed to defeat them all quite easily and to be honest I've grown quite bored from it as they never truly gave me much of a challenge. I have heard of your exploits and I feel that you are the opponent I have sought for. One to challenge my skills and knowledge on the battlefield. So to honor that I offer a duel: you and your unit versus me and my best troops. Since I'm offering you this, I''l also help and choose the battlefield on which we will fight. I am currently heading towards the Ardennes Forest to look after our supply bases there. Come there with your men and face me. Show me that you deserve to be called the son of Belgen Gunther. So bring all that you can Gunther, because once I'm done with you, your country will be next. So take this message Gunther, as a Declaration of War upon you._

_\- Signed Lelouch vi Britannia, Eleventh Prince of the Imperial Germanian Reich, Field Marshal of the Wehrmacht, Commander-in-Chief of the Black Knights, and the Black Prince of Germania_

* * *

**Things just got really interesting here. What will Gallia's Generals think of this? What will they do now that the dreaded Black Prince is in Gallia?**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	34. The Pieces Begin to Move

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

"What did you say?"

"Lelouch vi Britannia? The Demon of Germania in Gallia?"

"The-the Black Prince? He's here?!" cried out the Gallian officers at the sudden and frightening revelation that they had just heard. They had all heard of Lelouch's fearsome reputation as a commander, and had a rightful reason to be scared of him. No one who ever fought against him ever won, or lived. He defeated every force set against him during the Border Skirmishes. And very few of the soldiers from each one barely managed to get away from the utter destruction of their units. The man was so feared among the Generals of Europe that the mere mention of his name would send shivers down their spine and cause these hardened military men to shudder in fear over the man. Even now, the members of Gallia's High Command were mumbling, whispering, and commenting about this new and terrifying development. If the dreaded Black Prince of Germania was here in Gallia, then their war just got a whole lot more complicated very quickly. And many were now trembling in fear over the mere thought of facing this young man in a battle between their forces and his Black Knights.

Lucina knew all too well about the consequences of facing him. She and her forces had tried many times to weaken the Prince's power base. But every time they attempted to do so, Lelouch would have their entire operation blown and every ALF soldier who took part in said operation would be wiped out. Lucina had always heard how Prince Lelouch had always been able to be several steps ahead of his opponents, giving him the advantage he needed to always win the battle. She thought at first that it was just German propaganda spread out by Joseph Goebbels to make Lelouch sound more intimidating than he already was. But after many consecutive failed operations against him, she was now more than certain that this was all very true. She also knew that the man had a flair for the dramatic, evident by the letter in her hands that he had sent to Fort Amaranthine.

However, it seemed that not all of the Generals were concerned about the letter as evident by General Damon stating to his subordinates "Ah, quit complaining. This 'Black Prince' is just some kid with a lucky streak. The Gallian Regulars are more than capable of dealing with him."

Lucina was quite surprised by Damon's reaction. She couldn't tell if he was either brave or foolish for thinking that in Gallia's current state that they would have a chance of taking on the Black Prince and winning. _Then again, this is Damon after all so he's probably foolish for thinking so if not completely stupid for thinking so, _thought Lucina.

And apparently some of the other officers here thought the same thing as she did. Commodore Harrington was the first of these people to speak up first and objected "With all due respect General Damon. This is the Black Prince we're taking about. He's the best commander and strategist that the Nazi Empire has."

"This kid has beaten foes twice his size and with loads of more combat experience than he has. And he has a reputation in order to back it up," added Crowe.

"He has an entire army of loyal soldiers at his disposal and more. We'd be fools to think of him as an easy target to defeat," reminded Varrot.

"If he is here we must divert all our attention to strengthening our defenses. This boy is our top problem and he needs to be dealt with quickly and carefully," suggested Kluivert.

It was clear that many of Gallia's High Command knew the potential danger that Lelouch vi Britannia presented now that he was posted upon the front lines of the war. Although it seemed that he was more interested in a duel with Militia Lieutenant Welkin Gunther, they had to assume that he also had other objectives assigned to him by Byzantium that would cripple the Gallian war effort, much less bring it to a sudden end. Some however, didn't share that same sentiment.

"We defeated Germania a hundred years ago when our great-grandfathers fought for our independence. And no German Prince, no matter how important he is, will poison Gallia anymore with their influence," decreed Baldren with fiery passion in his voice.

His sister, sharing the same thoughts, spoke up right after Baldren had finished, stating "We'll send him and his army packing when we're through with him. By the grace of the Valkyrur we shall prevail."

Damon, who already felt as if Lelouch wasn't a challenge, spoke to Baldren and Audrey, ordering "If you two feel that you can beat him. Then so be it. Head down to the Ardennes and take a force to smash those supply bases. From what we know they're the same supply bases that the Princess here mentioned yesterday."

"General Damon, the Prince specifically said that he wanted Lieutenant Gunther to face him. Shouldn't we send him instead?" Asked Varrot, mentioning the one bit of information from the letter that they were all forgetting.

"Bah, why should we?" questioned Damon "One motley squad of peasants who won one battle aren't going to beat him. As I said before, the Gallian Regulars will take care of him. Their training will make the Ardennes Forest the Nazis grave.

"How do we even know he's going to be in the Ardennes Forest?" questioned Crowe, bringing up his point in the conversation. So far he had only said a few lines in this meeting, and never once had he even offered his point of view in more than one sentence. However it seemed that this time it was time for him to add something to this debate. Something that the rest of Gallian High Command didn't know.

"One of my units, Squad 422 to be exact, were out on a recon mission near the edge of the forest on the other side of Lake Graz. The spotted a large force of German soldiers heading south. An entire division with armor and artillery. Most likely they'll be heading towards the Aslone fortress," explained Crowe.

"Hmph. You're basing your report on the word of convicted criminals? How pathetic," grunted Damon, not believing any of it. Squad 422 was the official name for a Gallian Spec Ops squad called "The Nameless". It was a penal unit comprised of convicted criminals on both military and civilian levels. They were called the Nameless because their names were stripped from them and they were instead referred to by their designated number. This particular group was sent on missions too dangerous for either the Regular Army or the Militia to take on. If they refused the mission that they were given then each of the Nameless were subject to being executed by a firing squad. And if they succeed, then their accomplishments would be given to the Regulars or the Militia. The unit was different from other Gallian units as that it's troops and vehicles were all colored on black. This gave arise to their nickname among the Gallian Military as "Gallia's _SS_" since the German _Waffen SS_ all wore black uniforms. However the nickname they tended to call themselves was the "Last Chancers". The reason they called themselves that were kept as a closely guarded secret among them.

Gallia's noble born officers thought very little of them, even by the standards that they treated the Militia. But what else could be said about criminals being sent to fight in wars. Normally the unit was disorganized as the various members of the unit were just focused on keeping themselves alive and looking out for their own interests. This lead to the unit receiving heavy casualties within their missions. Originally, the unit was the size of a battalion at the start of the war but now they were barely even the size of a single platoon of men. However, recently the Nameless received a new commander recently transferred into their unit. He seemed to be whipping the unit into shape, making them much more effective in combat. And now they were beginning to make great progress in how they fought as a unit. However this did little to persuade the Gallian High Command as to how they useful they could be. They all simply regarded them as little more than a unit of scum and villainy that were lower than even the Militia. And even now Crowe was doubting that they would listen to him. But he at least had to try.

"They did see an entire German division. It's not that hard to see something that big just marching through the country," defended Crowe.

"And you believe that from this report that the Germans are heading towards Aslone fortress then?" inquired Audrey, wondering where he was going with this.

"It seems likely. With those numbers they'll likely overrun the fortress defenses and have a straight shot to Randgriz," explained Crowe.

"Though I'd hate to admit it, Crowe has a point. If that fortress falls then the war is lost. We should try and strengthen our defenses on the Central Front," suggested Kluivert, taking Crowe's warning seriously. Even if this report was coming from a penal unit, it still wasn't something they could just ignore. Unfortunately it would be his pleas that end up falling upon deaf ears.

"Bah! The fortress didn't fall when Gallia fought for her independence against the Nazis, and no amount of soldiers they bring now will cause it to fall either," proudly proclaimed Damon, pointing to the large fortress on the map of the Central Front. From the looks of the map, the fortress was already heavily besieged. The thick borders of the forest protected the flanks of the fortress, but the entire front of the fort was facing a large onslaught of German forces shown by recently drawn red lines which far outnumbered the Gallians shown as blue lines both inside the fortress and right on the fortress walls. The fact that the Gallians had held out for so long was a miracle alone. But if that division surely was heading for Aslone, then the possibility of the Gallian citadel falling into the hands of the Nazi Third Reich was more than certain.

"But General, the fortress is right in the path of that German division. If we don't send more troops then the only position on that front will fall and our entire front will collapse! Where else would those troops even be heading?!" cried Varrot, trying to get some sense into Damon's thick and ego inflated head. The thick outer layer of the forest on the Central Front protected nearly the entire area of the front. That allowed the Gallians to keep them the advancing Germans at bay and deny their superior Panzers passage. The only way for the Germans to continue their advance onto Randgriz was to seize control of Aslone, Gallia's only real position on that front, and march down the main road and across the Graz Bridges. This would be the quickest and most brutal way for the Nazis to claim victory in the name of their Kaiser. Quite frankly, Captain Varrot couldn't see any other plausible reason why they brought in a whole division to Gallia.

"They're heading to the Ardennes, Varrot! Their supply bases are there, the Black Prince is there, so that means those soldiers are heading there to protect both of them! Smarten up Varrot!" yelled Damon, growing quite angry at Varrot's yammering. If she wasn't going to shut up willingly then he would literally order her to. He seemed to believe that the Nazis would send an entire division to protect a member of their Royal Family. But Varrot didn't think so because the Nazis wanted to win the war, not prolong it. And she highly doubted that they could fit an entire division of troops into the Ardennes, which the Nazis had turned into their stronghold. However, Damon was the most senior officer here, at least in rank. His word was to be followed absolute, and without question. Even when she didn't agree with him which was mostly all the time.

Gritting her teeth and swallowing her pride, she answered through her teeth "Understood sir."

"Then it's settled. Colonel Baldren and Major Audrey will head down south and assemble a force from our Southern Front and launch an assault into the Ardennes to deal with the Black Prince and the supply bases. After he's dealt with we'll reconvene. This meeting is adjourned," summarized Damon.

As the Gallian officers left the strategy room and returned to their own quarters, Varrot was simply steaming over what had just happened. She had no doubt that Damon's "strategy" on dealing with Prince Lelouch vi Britannia would simply go up in flames and come back to bite him in the ass. He had no bloody clue who he was fighting against. Nor did he have even a hint of how tough this was going to be. He honestly thinks that beating the young Prince will be as simple and easy like taking a nice stroll in the park. He completely ignored the fact that he has won more battles than Danon could ever hope to achieve in his entire life. Another thing that made her angry was how he once again completely dismissed the Militia. The Prince had stated that he wanted to face Lieutenant Gunther, not the Regular Army. They should have at least considered the option that maybe sending the Militia was possibly the only option available for them. But no, once again they ignored them and went ahead to take the glory and the credit as they always did. _Mark my words. This German Prince will be Damon's undoing, _thought Varrot as she continued to head down the hallway. Even passing by Audrey Gassenarl she couldn't help but have that same disgust with her as she held against Damon. All she wanted was to get back to her quarters, get as far away from these nobles, enjoy some peace and quiet, and not get sucked into another long argument about the supposed "superiority" of the Regulars compared to the Militia.

"Eleanor. A word if you please," said Audrey, noticing Varrot as she passed by her. _So much for me escaping anymore of these conversations, _cursed Varrot in her head. Looks like her night wasn't over yet, much to her displeasure. With complete and utter regret, she straightened out her hat and turned to face the woman.

"What is it Audrey?" asked Varrot, wondering what on earth it was she wanted to talk to her about. Varrot and Audrey knee each other on a first name basis, though Varrot wished that it wasn't so. Varrot knew her from when she first came into the military as a junior officer, and saw her quickly rise to becoming Varrot's superior. Other than Damon, Audrey and her brother were the only other people that really got on her nerves. At least with Audrey she was a bit more civilized when it came to disagreements and didn't shout or yell uncontrollably. Varrot and Eleanor had more of a mutual dislike for each other while both acknowledging that the others military competence. They also agreed on the fact that Damon and many of the other commanders weren't exactly the best choice for leading Gallia's defense against the Germans.

"You don't believe that the Black Prince is heading to the Ardennes. Now why is that?" questioned Audrey as she crossed her arms.

"Most of the South, excluding the Ardennes, is under our control. We're stronger in the South. The Aslone fortress is our last line of defense on the Central Front. If the fortress falls to the Germans than it's all over. We'll lose Randgriz, Gallia, and the war. It seems only logical that he would head there instead of the Ardennes," explained Varrot.

"I'll admit that it's true. But Major Weber contacted us just before the meeting. He said that the fortress defenses are holding despite the Germans attempts to breach it," noted Audrey, remembering the message clearly. Major Weber was an adequate officer who was placed in charge of defending Aslone. Weber wasn't an extraordinary officer nor an incompetent officer but he still performed his job very well. It's because of him that he managed to keep the fortress under Gallian control for this long. But if what Gallian High Command believed was wrong, not even he could repel an entire division of German forces being led by the Black Prince.

"I don't doubt that the Major has the situation under control at the moment. But if you're wrong...and the Black Prince is truly there...the fortress will fall within a day and Randgriz within the next day," said Varrot, expressing her concern that High Command may have made the ultimate mistake in this war.

"It won't fall because the Prince will be in the Ardennes. He can use it to stage an offensive to Randgriz from the South. The forest is the perfect platform for such an offensive. I have no doubt about it," countered Audrey, displaying her own thoughts on the situation. Much to Varrot's chagrin, Audrey was still being narrow minded about the situation and not expanding her view on things that may happen instead of what would logically happen. As Varrot turned to walk away, Audrey hit her with another question, showing that she wasn't done with this conversation.

"Your Militia squad, the 7th Platoon. You weren't serious about sending them in to fight the Black Prince of the Nazi Reich were you?" she asked, squinting her eyes slightly at Varrot, showing how serious she was with her question. Along with Damon she thought of the Militia less than they did with the Regular Army, though to a lesser degree of disgust than Damon. She simply believed they were situated to support the Regular Army, not be thrown into the middle of a battle on their own. After all, the Militia were simply civilians who had less military training than the Regulars. This meant they weren't on the same level of training and fighting capabilities as the Nazi _Wehrmacht. _Audrey and her brother didn't agree with the Army's reliance on them as nothing more than cannon fodder but that still didn't mean that she didn't believe they had a place on the battlefield. Varrot turned around to explain her opinion over to her which she did.

"Lieutenant Gunther is an exceptional soldier and has the capability to be an excellent leader as well. He and his soldiers won where Damon's troops had failed. And he didn't lose any men in the process. I think any man who can lead his unit like this has as much as a chance as any to take him down. His father succeeded in this before," explained Varrot, pulling her support for the young Lieutenant.

"We all know of General Belgen Gunther's service during the Great War and we thank him for what he did. But that doesn't mean that his son has the abilities nor the experience necessary to deal with an enemy of the Prince's caliber," scoffed Audrey, expressing her dismay at the notion.

"The Black Prince specifically expressed that he wanted Lieutenant Gunther and his men as opponents, not the Regular Army. I imagine that he wishes to end what their parents started. In all accounts we should have at least sent them in," countered Varrot.

"One detachment of Militiamen can't defeat Prince Lelouch. If we're to face him, we'll face him on our terms and with Gallia's finest men and women gunning for his troops. That is final. Now if you'll excuse me, my brother and I have an army to lead," announced Audrey before making her way past Varrot and onward to the car that would take her to the Southern Front.

_"As Audrey and her brother headed for the Ardennes, they and every other member among High Command were blind to Lelouch's true plans of conquest. And by the time they would even figure it out...it would be too late for them to try and fix it. And sooner or later, Squad 7 would be at the forefront of what would come." -Jack Lawrence_

* * *

_Central Front, German side_

_Aslone Fortress 2239 hours (10:39 pm)_

_"Aslone. The only thing standing between the might of the Nazi Empire and Randgriz. The fighting there began when the Germans busted through the Barious Desert and made it to the fortress two weeks into the invasion. The siege began almost immediately after the first skirmishes around the fortress outskirts, and the fighting seemed to grow fiercer and fiercer with every passing day. The infamous fortress dubbed "Defender of Randgriz" was now facing it's mightiest challenge since the end of the Great War. And everyone was praying that once again the mighty bastion would keep the Nazi army at bay." - Jack Lawrence_

The raging fires, explosions, anti-aircraft fire lit the sky as the Siege of Aslone carried on into the dark of the night. Currently, the fortresses 3,500 man garrison was struggling to hold off against the fifteen thousand Nazi soldiers which had completely set their goal to take the fortress by any means necessary. At first they tried to attack the fortress by a full frontal assault but the Gallian defenses managed to repel their assault and this front became a stalemate. The Germans created an elaborate system of trenches that ran all across the face of the fortress from one side to the other, and with a vast _No Man's Land_ in between them. For two weeks the Germans have laid siege to Aslone but every attempt to capture the fortress ended up in failure and resulted in heavy casualties for the Germans in the hundreds. Even though the Germans conquered most of the country with ease, there were still pockets of Gallians who offered stubborn resistance. Aslone was by far offering the stiffest resistance that the Gallians had put up so far. Now with Maximilian being pressured by Kaiser Byzantium to end the war quickly, which put even more pressure on the German commander of this area to take the formidable fortress just as fast. The commander was so desperate that he had simply resorted to having his forces fire upon Aslone from the trenches while the Gallians did the same with their big guns from the fortress walls.

Aslone itself was still a mighty citadel despite the damage it had taken from the German artillery barrages. Aslone was a Vauban style fortress. It was shaped somewhat like a star and was larger than other forts of the period when it was constructed. The walls of the fortress, as well as it's armaments and certain other specs were modernized as technology progressed. The walls, made of a combination of reinforced concrete, steel, and finally limestone, were sloped to help better deflect any shells firing directly at it. And this had served them well as even though the walls facing the Germans were badly damaged they were still intact and no major breach was anywhere to be seen. As for weapons, the fortress was well supplied with them. It had turrets housing 120 mm cannons for long range barrages, 75 mm cannons for any tanks that came close, machine guns to take care of infantry, and lastly some AA guns to shoot down any German aircraft that came to attack them. And the garrison of this fortress was more than ready to use these guns to rain hell upon the Nazis cowering in their trenches.

In the German trenches, they were under fire from the fortress just as they were firing upon the fort as well. Tracer rounds from both sides filled air of _No Man's Land_, like little fireflies moving at incredible speed. German soldiers were zipping through the long corridors as they manned their howitzers and machine guns while at the same time trying to keep their heads down to avoid the incoming fire from Aslone's high in a while, one of the shell fired from the fortress landed directly in the trenches, killing a few German soldiers in the blast as well as wounding several more from the shrapnel. The medics were having the toughest time as they had to brave the bullets and explosions every second to drag the wounded to the medical station dug up underground as a kind of improvised bunker. And as of now they were getting more wounded then they could keep up with, and too few medics to treat the growing flow of them.

Their bunkers and trenches were standard ones. They were dug into the earth and the walls and roof in some areas were reinforced with thatch and wooden planks. Sturdy construction, unless hit directly with a high explosive artillery shell. Thankfully, the command bunker wasn't hit by one or else the Germans would be in a whole mess of problems.

Inside the command bunker, the German Captain in charge of conquering Aslone watched through the small yet wide firing slits as to what was going on outside. She had been forced to see the same scene again and again since this began. All that ever happened was both sides firing at each other and causing nothing but damage and a few casualties from here and there but with no major gains or losses acquired by any side. The German Captain was striking in her appearance as she could instantly stand out in the a strategy meeting. She was a woman in her mid twenties, about twenty-three years of age. She had long white hair that she had tied into a single long braid, silver colored eyes, and had a pale skin that was dirtied by the dirt on her face and hands due to having to the cover all the time from the constant artillery barrages. She wore the standard German officer's uniform as well as a black leather trench coat covering it and the rapier strapped to her hilt. It had gotten so intense at times that she was advised to not leave the bunker, a decision she was not in favor of for she enjoyed actually fighting on the front lines with her men. And now all she can do is watch from her bunker as her lines are pounded from the enemy artillery barrage.

"Captain!" cried one of the soldiers in the bunker, getting the attention of his commander. The soldier was sitting on a chair manning a large radio stationed on a wooden table. He was trying to contact Ghirlandaio and had only just managed to get through. The Captain immediately strode over to the table and spoke into the radio headset given to her by the soldier.

"This Captain Aada Schnee of the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division calling from Aslone, does anyone reply?" asked Aada as she hoped for someone to answer her back.

_"This is Ghirlandaio Command. We read you loud and clear Captain," _replied a voice on the other end of the call.

Aada let out a sigh of relief. After several days of nothing but static, they had finally managed to restore contact with command. She immediately began to report on their current situation. "Ghirlandaio Command, we need to retreat from this position. We're being bombarded by the Gallian artillery here," she explained.

_"Negative Captain. Hold your positions. You will hold the line and take Aslone at all costs," _said the man, denying her request completely.

"Ghirlandaio Command, I'm a quarter of a mile from the enemy and this is literally as far as we can get. My men are getting pulverized down here. If we stay here any longer then we're going to get torn to pieces," cried Aada as she felt angered by the answer she was given by Ghirlandaio Command.

_"You will soon be receiving reinforcements Captain. These should be sufficient to break through and take Aslone. Command wants that fortress taken now. You have your orders. Command out," _said the voice as he cut off the communication leaving Aada frustrated that these people had completely ignored her request once again. In complete frustration, she threw the headset into the radio, causing the soldier operating it to jump up in surprise. She didn't care if they decided to send the whole German Army. There seemed to be nothing they could do to scale Aslone's walls, much less make it across No Man's Land.

"Whoever they sent to help us had better be worth it," grumbled Aada, completely unaware of the fact that two important people had entered the bunker. As she turned around, her eyes suddenly locked to see that these two people were no other than the infamous Lelouch vi Britannia and his wife Kallen vi Britannia. Aada was immediately frozen at the sight. She hadn't expected to be graced with the presence of two members of the Nazi Royal Family, much less two very prominent members. It soon became clear that these two were the ones that Ghirlandaio Command had sent to assist them, and she had practically insulted them unintentionally with her little offhand remark.

Almost on instinct, she announced their presence with a resounding shout "Attention, Royals on deck!" Her men inside the bunker immediately stood up at their feet, stiffened their posture, and raised their arm in the Nazi salute along with shouting _"Sieg Heil Lelouch! Sieg Heil Kallen!" _

"At ease," spoke Lelouch calmly at Aada's men calmly resumed their positions but never removed their gaze on the two great figures that were in their presence. Lelouch immediately walked over to the slits in the wall and gazed upon the chaos happening outside while his wife went to talk with Aada.

"We were told to meet with a Major Schneider who was leading this attack. Do you know where he is Captain..." asked Kallen, wondering where the man was.

"My name is Aada Schnee ma'am. And Major Schneider isn't in charge no longer. He was relieved of his post and I have assumed command of our forces here," explained Aada. She remembered the full reason why Major Schneider was relieved. It was supposedly because Ghirlandaio Command had found him to be too incompetent to continue to be a part of this command. A few days ago, a couple of _SS_ soldiers arrived, dragged him out, stuffed him into a car, and dove off. That was the last time that anyone had ever seen or heard of the Major ever since. They could only assume that he had been executed or was relegated to work far behind the front lines. Most likely as a Commandant of some Darcsen concentration camp.

"Schnee huh? You're one of Jacques Schnee's daughters?" asked Kallen, noting her last name when she introduced herself. Aada simply nodded her head as a response. Jacques Schnee was a well known figure within the Nazi Empire. He was a noble and the CEO of the Schnee Ragnite Corporation, a company that held a monopoly on Ragnite mining within Germania. The company was well known for it's widespread use of Darcsens as forced Slave Labor which made him not a popular figure among the rest of Europe. The Schnee's were known as staunch Loyalists to the Nazi Empire and have strong political ties with the Royal Family, recently putting support for Byzantium upon his ascension to the throne. The Schnee's were also part of the Nazi Party, the political sphere of the Nazi regime organized in the 1700's that included the aristocracy, Royal Family members, high ranking military officers, and other government officials. Being a part of the Nazi Party meant that you were a member of the Nazi's elite which was both a privilege and an honor in their country. Magnus had three daughters and a son to carry on his family name. The oldest, was part of the _Gestapo_, with Aada joining the military. Finally, the youngest of them, who had just turned fifteen, was being groomed to be the heiress to the company.

"Yes, he's my father. Why do you ask?" answered Aada, curious as to why she was being asked this.

"Oh nothing. I'm just being curious," responded Kallen, answering truthfully.

"If we are done with the pleasantries, let's get down to business. Do you know why we are here?" inquired Lelouch as he turned back to face Aada. He wondered how much exactly she had known about what was recently going on in Ghirlandaio.

"I imagine that you're here to help us break the deadlock. My men have been itching to get this siege over with," replied Aada, giving the best answer that she could think of.

"You're correct on that. The Kaiser has sent us to end this battle and lead your troops onto Randgriz, ending this war once and for all," said Kallen, explaining their situation.

"And just how are going to do that?" asked Aada, wanting to know what it was she was going to do.

Lelouch simply gave off his signature crooked grin and said plainly "I'm the Black Prince. I always have an ace up my sleeve."

* * *

_The Ardennes Forest_

_Around the same time_

In the thick woodlands of the Ardennes forest, the Germans had seized control of that entire region and had turned it into an almost impregnable stronghold for them. Aside from a few areas on the edge that the Gallians had managed to recapture, it did little to loosen the German's grip on the area. It was also in this region, far behind the German lines, was where the Nazis had decided to set up their main supply base to help fuel their invasion. They had set it up in large clearings since they needed the space. They set up large buildings to house supplies of Ragnite, ammo, weapons, even vehicles and set them up in rows of five. Currently this base had about three rows of these large buildings, which accounted to a grand total of about fifteen. They cordoned off the buildings with tall fences and barbed wire which stretched around the whole perimeter leaving an opening for a gate on both the main entrance and the back exit. Tall watchtowers with machine guns stood high keeping an eye on the perimeter with other security measures such as two Panzer IV's flanking the main entrance as well as a large contingent of about a hundred armed men making this place a very well secured base.

As of now about ten of them were at the rear entrance preparing to greet two individuals who had arrived in a sleek black German staff car. The officer in charge straightens his uniform and stands at attention, ready to greet the two expected guests. When the door opened, out came the two guests: Colonel Alexander Isaac and Lightning, famous members of Lelouch's Black Knights.

The officer gave them a salute and proudly announced "Welcome to the Ardennes Front! It's an honor to have members of the infamous Black Knights here."

As the officer leads the two to their quarters with the ten soldiers following them as their Honor Guard, Alexander asked the officer "What's the current status of the base? Have you experienced any attacks?"

"This base is at full operational capacity. We have trucks coming in and out daily with supplies for the front. Other than a few skirmishes we've had nothing major so far," answered the officer before leaning close to whisper "We've however heard recently from an agent in Randgriz that a force of Gallian soldiers under the command of Colonel Baldren and Major Audrey are going to be heading here to attack."

Lightning simply grinned and said "Well then, let's give them a warn German welcome."

* * *

**And here it is. The stage is set for Lelouch to begin his grand plan. What will happen? How will it end? Wait for further chapters to know the answer.**

**Now for the next couple of chapters I will be doing conversations between the various other members of Squad 7. They may be short or long but I can promise I will focus on their conversations. It seems that I need to show the rest of Squad 7 aside from the main characters and that's what I plan to do. I hope you like it when I begin to post them.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	35. Ted, Melville, and Marina I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

**Here is the first in my series of these support conversations between the members of Squad 7. ****I got this particular idea from the Fire Emblem series.**** I'll show these all after a particular mission of sorts such as Vasel or the Barious Desert. However, right now I'm going to do them all after the Air Raid just to get them all started. Thankfully these people will be in groups of two, three, and maybe four. This'll help get through them much faster. I'll explain more in the end. For now, please enjoy this particularly funny due: Marina Wulfstan and Ted Ustinov.**

* * *

_April 18, 1935_

_Fort Amaranthine Shooting Range_

_ 1832 hours (6:32 pm)_

After the Air Raid on Randgriz, Squad 7 had returned to Fort Amaranthine. Welkin gave them permission to relax for a moment in order to at least get some measure of R&amp;R before their next action which at this rate would probably be in the next morning. As the Squad dispersed, Marine decided to spend her free time by practicing her sniper skills on the firing range just as the sun was beginning to disappear in the horizon. Even though she was already a great shot, maybe even the best in the whole Militia, this helped her to relax as well as keep her skills at top level. She had set up a row of empty glass bottles in a row upon a wooden table about several hundred yards away and was finishing with the remaining three with her GSR-M4 sniper rifle. And after firing a shot with her scope, the crouching Marina squeezed the trigger and our came a bullet which flew at such a high velocity it shattered the glass bottle into dozens of tiny shards. With a series of quick movements, she retracted the bolt of her rifle, released the spent shell casing, and loaded in a fresh one before once again looking through the scope of her rifle to line up the shot. And once again, her shot hit dead center, destroying the bottle with a clean and precise shot. As she finished reloading a shot and looked through her scope to the bottle, something surprised her. On the other end of her scope, she saw a human eye. Extremely close up and staring right at her. At first she thought that she had accidentally aimed her rifle at a person, but once she took her gaze out from looking through the scope she saw that it was just Ted Ustinov. He was standing right next to her, leaning on his left side heavily and looking through the other end of the scope with his eye so close to it that they were almost touching. Marina could only look at him with a look of annoyance upon her face as he now looked at her with the same stupid grin upon his face that he wore upon his face everyday.

Marina had already figured out why he was here, but just to make sure she asked "What do you want? Go away."

"Oh, come on. I just wanna tell you a joke. A joke can't hurt, can it?" pleaded Ted, wanting her to listen to his joke just once.

"Not interested. Leave," answered Marina as she readied her rifle and prepared to shoot, already beginning to block out Ted's voice.

However, Ted seemed to ignore her last comment and went on with the joke, saying "Okay. Well what do you get when you cross boiled cabbage, and an angry German? You get one very Sour Kraut. Huh? What do you think?"

As Ted waited for a response from Marina, he ended up getting nothing. No laugh, chuckle, hell not even a smile. Just the same blank response from Marina as she delivered to everyone. As the seconds went on with no response, it took the eardrum shattering gunshot of Marina's rifle to cause his smile to finally drop. As the ringing in Ted's ear began to fade away, he looked to see that Marina had taken out the last glass bottle. Now the only thing left out in the range was a wooden table covered and surrounded by little shards of broken glass in all different shapes and sizes. Marina, without another word simply got back on her feet and walked away from Ted. As he let out a sigh, Ted could only look back at what had just happened. Once again, he had failed to get a laugh out of her.

Before the war he was always the life of the party, telling jokes and pulling pranks while people would end up laughing from them. For some reason, Ted enjoyed it and liked the idea of making people laugh for a living. When the war against Germania began and he was drafted into the Militia, he thought he could use his comedic talents to help relieve the stress of the war on his comrades and make life feel just a bit easier for them as they fought the Germans on the front lines. And in just a few short days he had managed to get a laugh, giggle, and chuckle out of everyone in the Squad. Well, everyone except for Marina.

No matter what he tried, he just couldn't get anything out of her. She was the loner of Squad 7. Always looking to work alone and never seeming like she wishes to socialize with the other squad members. Some of the Sevens had already dubbed her "Ice Queen" due to her distant attitude. No one had ever seen her smile at all. she just never seemed to be in a happy mood at all. It just added to the mystery of this hunter from the Ardennes Forest. And for some reason, it was bugging Ted to no end. He had to make Marina smile. He just had to. And he wasn't going to stop until he did so.

"Just you wait and see. I'll have you laughing before this war is over," mumbled Ted Ustinov as he watched Marina walk away to Squad 7's barracks.

"Yeah, like that'll ever happen," commented a voice behind Ted. He looked behind him to see his friend Melville walking up towards him. While Ted was trying to humor Marina, Melville had managed to hear and see his epic failure. He actually enjoyed watching Ted fail at humoring Marina, even though Ted probably knew that it was a fool's mission.

"Why don't you just give up? She's not going to laugh you know," said Melville, reminding his friend of the obvious.

"It's just she's the only person who never laughed at my jokes. I want to find something that'll make her laugh," noted Ted.

"I doubt that Marina has laughed about anything at all in her life, much less smiled. What makes you think that you can do it?" asked Melville, wondering about Ted's persistence about this.

"Come on. At least have me let her smile. It might be something nice to see," said Ted, hoping that Melville would at least be okay with that.

And after a few moments of silence, Melville finally gave in and said "Alright. It's worth a shot at least. We can talk over some bacon that I smuggled from the kitchen."

Melville was something of a big consumer of fine meats, if there was such like that. He'd eaten about almost any kind of meat known to mankind and quite enjoyed the taste of meat. The man was something similar to a carnivore in the animal world. He also looked forward to sharing his meat with his friends whenever he would get the chance. And as he and Ted headed back to Squad 7's barracks, Ted regaled him of ways in which the two of them would be able to get Marina to smile.

* * *

**And that's it for my first Support Conversation for Squad 7. Sorry for it being shorter than any of my other chapters but I do plan for more here. Here is what I'm saying. I've separated each of these support conversations into numbers I, II, III, and sometimes IV. In each one we'll show how the progression of each conversation with different members of Squad 7 goes throughout the war aside from the main ones (Welkin, Alicia, Isara, Largo, Rosie, Zaka, and Jack I mean.) I want to show the relationship of these characters develop and change as the war drags on. I hope you all like it. And since these will be shorter than my usual chapters, it means I may be able to do several in a day. This means that I may be able to get these out faster (At least I think so). Here are the groups or couples I have planed out along with the number of their support conversations. The Ones with the Question marks are ones that may or not happen. I'm not sure if I can do another but I feel there should be another for this group.**

**\- Marina Wulfstan, Melville Young, and Ted Ustinov (I, II, III)**

**\- Salinas Milton and Freesia York (I, II, III, IV)**

**\- Karl Landzaat and Lynn (I, II, III, IV)**

**\- Claudia Mann and Nancy Dufour (I, II, III)**

**\- Oscar Bielert and Emile Bielert (I, II, III)**

**\- Vyse Inglebard, Aika Thompson, Fina Sellers, and Alex Raymond (I, II, III)**

**\- Juno Coren and Aisha Neumann (I, II, III)**

**\- Hermes Kissenger and Nina Streiss (I, II, III)**

**\- Cezary Regard, Wavy, and Nadine (I, II, III, IV?)**

**\- Jane Turner and Hannes Salinger (I, II, III)**

**\- Leon Schmidt and Kreis Czherny (I, II, III)**

**\- Kevin Abbott and Dorothy Howard (I, II, III)**

**\- Audrey Heitinga and Rosina Seldon (I, II, III)**

**\- Father Hendricks, Catherine O'Hara, and Coby Caird (I, II, III)**

**\- Cherry Stijnen, Dallas Wyatt, and Ramona Linton (I, II, III)**

**\- Montley Leonard and Knute Jung (I, II, III)**

**\- Edy Nelson, Homer Peron, Walter Nash, and Jann Walker (I, II, III, IV?)**

**\- Susie Evans and Noce Wordsworth (I, II, III, IV?)**

**\- Musaad Mayfield, Nils Daerden, and Herbert Nielson (I, II, III)**

**\- Mica Hawkins, Ramsey Clement, and Wendy Cheslock (I, II, III)**

**\- Yoko Martens and Theold Bohr (I, II, III)**

**\- Elysse Moore and Hector Calvey (I, II, III)**

**I may add more different Support Conversations if I end up adding more characters for Squad 7. In the end, I just hope that you guys enjoy these. **

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	36. Salinas and Freesia I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Fort Amaranthine's Vehicle Hanger_

Salinas was on his shift of guard duty and he was placed to patrol the vehicle hangers. for him, this was about the best assignment on base he could have gotten. For Salinas, he was always fascinated by tanks and other armored vehicles. It was one of the major reasons why he had volunteered with the Gallian Militia. Being with them meant that he would finally get up close and personal to these lovely machines. And now he was all alone with them in this hanger...up until at least when his shift would be over and another soldier would come to relieve him. As for now, all he had to do was lean against one of the tanks, marvel at them, stare at them intently, and mostly do absolutely nothing until someone else would show up. Then out of the corner of his eye, he spotted someone in the hanger. Just not the person that he expected.

Standing right there in another corner of the building, with her dark, tanned skin, brunette hair, hourglass figure and lovely face was the lovely Freesia York, one of the most beautiful women in the Gallian Militia's Squad 7. She came from the vast Barious Desert region of the country. A region which sat right at the border between Gallia and Germania and made up a large portion of the far right side of the country and sat between the Naggiar Plains of the north and the Ardennes forest of the south with pieces of land that looks like the rest of Gallia in between all three of them. When the invasion began, the Barious Desert was one of the first areas to fall in the Nazi's Blitzkrieg. However since the only habitable regions of the Barious Desert where the villages and towns scattered throughout the area, that's where the German forces in that region tends to be located. However there were those who made refuge in the various ruins, abandoned fortresses, or freshwater springs if there were any to be found in the immediate area which was about ten miles from each settlement.

For Freesia, she had worked around the desert as an exotic dancer, performing from one village to the next. She was so widely popular and well known that she was nicknamed by her fans "Dancer of the Sands" for how light she was on her feet when she danced. However, when the war began Freesia joined the Militia due to lack of need for performers in the now German occupied Barious. And from the first day that both she and Salinas were placed in the same squad, they couldn't take their eyes off of each other. For both Salinas and Freesia had already established a reputation among the Militia that they were complete and total flirts who would make a pass on everyone attractive they saw. In fact the only people they hadn't told those lines to was each other. And it looked like it would change after tonight.

Without a moment to spare, Salinas gave a nice whistle that had gotten Freesia's attention pretty quickly. She looked over to where Salinas was and with a cute and seductive smile walked over to the tank he's leaning against. As she walked, Salinas couldn't help but admire her. Those amazing curves, those luscious lips, and her beautiful tanned skin. Every inch of her simply shouted '_Exotic_' to pretty much every kind of men from civilian to royalty. Every one of them would find Freesia completely attractive, hell even beautiful. And she had certainly caught the eye of one Salinas Milton.

"Hey there, what's up handsome? Are you lonely in here?" asked Freesia in a quite sexy tone.

"Nah. I'm just minding my own business among these great marvels of engineering. Though now that you're here, my day just got a whole lot better," commented Salinas, playing his own card in this flirtatious game they were playing.

Freesia chuckled at his remark. She had to admit that even though Salinas had this strange love of tanks, there was something about him that she was just attracted too. Whatever it was, she just couldn't put her finger on it. Nevertheless, she was attracted to Salinas, and there was no doubt that the feeling was mutual with him.

"Actually I wouldn't mind doing something in order to pass the time. It'll be at least an hour or two until someone comes to relieve me. And I doubt that anyone is stupid enough to come out here in the middle of the night and try and steal one of our tanks so I might as well spend some time with you as my company," said a very sly Salinas.

Raising one of her eyebrows with intrigue, Freesia asked "Oh really? Well what do you have in mind Mr. Tank Aficionado? Anything interesting?"

This time Salinas chuckled before answering "I'm not sure. What is it that you want to do Freesia?"

"Well...how about a little dance with just you and me?" suggested Freesia, swaying her hips from side to side, egging Salinas to take her offer. But to her surprise, the moment she suggested dancing, his whole attitude seemed to change. His face turned tomato red, he diverted his gaze, and rubbed the back of his head as if he was too embarrassed to speak. It puzzled Freesia a bit. This was a side of Salinas that she had never seen before: the nervous, shy, and embarrassed side of him.

"Um...well...the thing is that I can't dance very well. Actually I take that back. I stink completely," admitted Salinas, his face still red.

_So that's why he's so fidgety, _thought Freesia. She surmised then that meant that he never truly took a girl to his high school dances. Well since she was such a pretty good dancer herself, she might just have the solution to his peculiar problem.

"Well...what if I taught you how to dance? Would that help you? Is that okay?" offered Freesia quite sincerely.

It didn't take Salinas even a moment to even ponder on his decision. He just simply answered back to her "If it means I get to spend more time with your beautiful self, sign me up for classes."

Without a moment to spare, Freesia immediately began her "How to Teach Salinas to Dance 101" class. She was going to start off simple and work her way up from there. He directed him to hold her right hand with his left while putting his other hand around her waist. The moment he heard that a smile came upon his face. And as he gently hovered his hand hover her lovely hips, her very...lovely hips, Freesia placed her free hand around his upper arm, feeling Salinas's muscles. For someone who had only been in the Militia for less than a few weeks, same as her, he already had developed some nice and hard muscles. And Freesia couldn't help resist squeezing them a bit. Salinas seemed to enjoy the attention that Freesia was giving him, as he had a grin as big as she did. _This is going to be a good time, _thought Salinas as Freesia was about to begin their lessons.

"Okay, just follow my lead and we'll take this slow. And one, two, three. One, two three...," said Freesia as she would begin their lessons by having Salinas go through the motions. Sooner or later, Salinas's replacement for guard duty would arrive. Until then however they were going to enjoy this moment between the two of them before they would have to head back to Squad 7's barracks.

* * *

**Alright. Two down...a lot more to go. I promise that once I'm done with the firsts of these Support Conversations fro each pairing or group I'll go right back to the story, with only showing two or three of these Support Conversations every once and a while. Until then, see you all later.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	37. Karl and Lynn I

**And now for Karl and Lynn. One of my favorite couples. I don't know why I just find them so damn cute together.**

* * *

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Outside Squad 7 Barracks_

As the day was drawing to a close, Karl and Lynn crawled up onto the roof of their squad's barracks and layed down to watch the sun set upon the horizon. The two of them used to do this all the time back at Fouzen before the war. Whenever they were done with work at the factories or the mines, the two of them would climb to the highest place they could possibly fine and talk for hours as they watched the sun set and the day ended. Karl would hold her in his arms and Lynn would rest her head on his chest and for a few hours it seemed like all the worries in their world didn't matter and the two of them were the only people in the world.

Karl was always in love with Lynn, from the first day he met here back at the factory when she came in on her first day. He was assigned to train her how to work the machines along her coworkers. In Fouzen like everywhere else in Gallia there was discrimination against Darcsens but unlike most places they were actually more lenient there and many of the cities high Darcsen population worked alongside their non-Darcsen colleagues in the same environment with little confrontation between them. And if there ever was they would always settle it among themselves.

For Karl, when he met Lynn, he seemed to find the one thing in his life that he had been missing: Love. He was instantly smitten and wanted nothing more to be with Lynn. However, he had a little trouble working up the courage to tell her how he felt. When he finally did she surprised him by mentioning that she felt the exact same for him. After that moment, the two began a very romantic relationship that would last for over two years with Karl proposing to her not long after that. They mostly kept it secret, telling only their family members and closest friends about their relationship. This was mainly due to the fact that a romantic relationship between a Darcsen and non-Darcsen was tantamount to social suicide among their own people. They would be shunned, persecuted, or even worse: killed by people they once considered their friends. And it was even worse when the Gestapo Darcsen Hunters came calling.

Once every few years, agents of the Nazi _Gestapo_ would sneak into bordering nations and go on hunts to round up Darcsens and bring them back to Germania. The official claim by the German government to justify this was that these agents were looking for Darcsens and troublemakers who have rebelled against the Nazis and escaped justice. But in reality they tended to just gather every Darcsen they could find on false charges, many of which had never been to Germania at all. And when the Darcsen Hunters came to Gallia, Fouzen would be the first place these agents would hit. When they did, Karl helped Lynn and her family hide from these people by having them hide below in a secret trapdoor which lead to the cellar. The Germans searched the buildings many times but they never truly found it. And after ten minutes of turning Karl's house upside down they would leave and once the coast was clear Karl opened the trapdoor and Lynn's family would come out and leave for their house.

Karl wanted to keep Lynn safe from harm. But when faced with danger, he tended to freeze like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. And even though he was in the Militia, it did little to improve his courage as he fought well behind the rest of the squad during the fights and only fired his rifle when he was sure that the Germans were to preoccupied to notice that he was there. He was a coward, there was no denying that. But he wanted to keep Lynn safe from harm so that he wouldn't lose her. When the war began and the Germans overran Fouzen, he and Lynn were separated so naturally he was worried for her. He joined the Militia because he thought that doing so would help him be able to find her. When he did find her at Vasel, he was surprised to see that she had joined the Militia to do the exact same thing. Now he was more worried about her.

Being in the Militia meant that she would be on the front lines and get shot at by the German soldiers constantly. And these guys won't show any mercy for a Darcsen soldier, much less a female one. He was afraid that she would be killed or worse: sent to the Nazi concentration camps in back in Germania. These thought bothered Karl every moment since their reunion in the aftermath of Vasel being reclaimed. But now, they weren't.

Here he was, on the roof of their barracks, with Lynn at his side, and the two of them staring off into the sunset just like the old days. He felt a wave of nostalgia flood him, as he wished that this moment could simply last forever. He wanted the war to be little more than a memory and for him and Lynn to return to the good old days before all this madness started. But no matter how much he tried to think that, he knew that it would be a matter of time until the squad was called out for their next mission against the Nazis. All he could do now was just savor this precious moment while it lasted. And as he last rays of sunlight disappeared on the horizon that moment came to an end.

"Well Karl, looks like we should turn in for the night," said Lynn as she began to climb back onto the ground with Karl close behind her.

"Yeah, I agree. The rest of the squad should be starting to get inside by now too," commented Karl.

As the two made their way to the entrance of the barracks, Lynn told Karl "I'll be glad when this war is over Karl. Then we can get back to planning our wedding."

"Yeah. That's if we make it through this war," admitted Karl, trying to hide the fear in his voice. Even though he was looking forward to marrying Lynn after the war was over, he was hoping that both of them were alive by the time it was over. Lynn however saw right through his attempt and tried to calm his fears.

"Karl, nothing is going to happen to you, or to me. I'm not going to be putting myself willingly in situations I shouldn't be in," she said, wrapping her arms around his as they continued to walk.

"It may happen. We are in the middle of a war remember?" reminded Karl as he pointed out the obvious.

"Yeah, but as long as you and I watch each other's backs we'll turn out okay," assured Lynn. Sensing that this wasn't working, she turned to face him and tell it to him straight then.

"Karl...I'm not leaving you. And I don't have any intention on you leaving me. I want us to survive this war. I want to live to see my own wedding. Trust me...please," begged Lynn, a small tear forming in her eye as she hoped that this would be enough to convince Karl. And it actually paid off. Karl could see how upset she was becoming. He wanted to keep her safe but he knew she wanted the same with him. The best thing that they could do was look after each other so that this way they would both survive this war and move on with their life together when the shooting stops.

With the nod of his head, he replied to her "Alright. I will."

With those words, a smile forms over Lynn's face. in her happiness she suddenly presses her lips against his and keeps the kiss going for a good long minute until they both break off the kiss and end up walking towards the door to the barracks. They walk through the door and join the rest of the squad that is beginning to gather inside.

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**

** God...I sound like a broken record.**


	38. Claudia and Nancy I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Squad 7 Supply Room_

Claudia and Nancy were assigned to help Jack gather and store the items their unit needed inside of the supply room attached to their barracks. It was cram full with rifles, grenades, ammo, Ragnaid, and much more. Each of these items, dangerous or not, had to be placed neatly in their assigned spots. The Army tended to be be very specific about these kind of things. Normally it would be a relatively easy job for even the worst of soldiers to perform. However tonight...wasn't exactly the case. With a slip of her feet, Nancy trips and falls face first onto the ground, spilling a small box containing bottles of Ragnaid. After adjusting her glasses she exclaims "Aw crap! Not again!"

Jack could only sigh at what was going on. This was the third time that Nancy had tripped. The first time she dropped a box of ammo and they had to pick up every single bullet, then she dropped a box full of grenades. Thankfully none of those went off, otherwise people would be picking them off the floor, walls, and ceiling piece by piece. Getting completely annoyed by Nancy, Jack looks at her and simply scolds "Can you not take five steps without tripping over your own feet? Honestly, you're like a walking disaster."

Picking herself off the floor, Nancy dusted herself off before apologizing "Sorry. I've always been something of a klutz. Even back on my families farm I tended to be kind of clumsy. One time I spilled a whole basket of fresh eggs. My dad was livid."

"If you're so clumsy, how did you get into the Militia?" asked a curious Claudia.

"I got drafted. I think I was better put to use back on a farm," answered Nancy with a shrug. That statement was only half true. At best she performed slightly better on her father's farm. There wasn't a moment back then where she didn't break something, trip over something, or accidentally release the chickens from their pens when she forgets to lock the gate. And it ended up with Nancy having to figure out how to fix this before her father would find out and yell at her. Most of the time she would succeed in fixing the problem but there were still times where he would find out about her mishaps. Thankfully none ever managed to get hurt by her antics...just herself. Then again, at least it was just her and no one else.

"How about you just let me and Claudia handle this and you head back to the others. I'd prefer if next you didn't drop an unexploded artillery shell on my foot," exclaimed Jack, sounding very serious. Nancy simply gave him a tired salute, turned on her heel, and left the room. But not before mumbling out "kraut" to Jack out of spite which Jack heard. After everything that had happened the past two days he would end up calling out on someone for calling him that. But considering they all had a long day he decided to let it go and just focus back at the task at hand. However the fact that his remaining help was Claudia Mann didn't settle him down one bit.

Looking to Claudia, Jack told her slowly and clearly "OK, listen. Do not touch anything. Do not touch the ammo, the uniforms, the weapons, nothing. I've had two bad days already and I don't need anything from you as well."

"Oh come on. What could possibly go wrong?" inquired Claudia.

"There you go. You just jinxed it," whined Jack who seemed to know exactly what the hell this meant. And it was evident that Claudia didn't as she just looked at him with a bit of a confused look upon her face. Jack simply sighed and set about explaining to her what the problem was.

"Look, every time someone says 'What could possibly go wrong?', something always ends up going wrong. You said it during Vasel. And the moment you finished, two fucking Tiger tanks showed up," criticized Jack, remembering that event as clear as day. When reminded of that, Claudia's face blushed a light pink due to the embarrassment of the memory. She took a small step backwards and avoided eye contact with Jack. When she got the courage to speak to Jack, her volume of her voice was lower and she still didn't look at him in the face.

"Well...you see...I kind of have an unlucky streak," she admitted.

"I kind of figured that out by myself thank you very much," said Jack, wondering why Claudia decided to point out the obvious.

"I actually tried to keep myself locked in my house to avoid it...but then the war started and house blew up, when I went outside for just a few moments," explained Claudia, saying the last part with reluctance as she knew what he was about to say next. Jack simply lowered his head and shook it in complete and utter disbelief. From just the few days that he had known her he could already tell for a fact that she was perhaps the unluckiest person in Gallia, Europa, hell...in the history of the entire human race if that was even possible. He just couldn't understand how someone could be that unlucky, but he wasn't planning on finding out.

Without a moment's hesitation, Jack put down his clipboard and began to make his way to the door while he explained to Claudia "Well then I'm out of here before your terrible luck lands me a trip to the hospital."

Before he even walked out, Claudia picked up a box of stick grenades, grabbed one by the handle, and making sure that hand was nowhere near the pin. She then looked to Jack to try and do her best to reason with him. She said "Oh come on. I'm not that big of a walking jinx. You'll be fine with me, I swear."

Almost as if it was waiting for her to say that, the safety pin to the stick grenade suddenly and without any warning fell out of the bottom of the handle and clattered onto the floor. The grenade was now live and within a few seconds it would explode, spraying hot bits of shrapnel all over the room killing anyone within range. Acting on instinct and the newly found rush of adrenaline pumping through his veins, Jack knocked the grenade out of Claudia's hand then grabbing her by her uniform. With all his strength and as fast as he could, he raced out of the room with her in tow. After they rushed through the open door Jack immediately grabbed her and threw them into a dive towards one direction of the hallway, clearing them from the door frame. And not a moment too soon, the grenade exploded. Dust and debris from the blast flew at a high speed through the open door, collided into the wall with some sticking in it while the rest fell onto the floor. Then, just like that, it was over. Claudia and Jack had nearly died from one of their own grenades in a Gallian base. Not exactly what one would expect when they were fighting a war.

As it was now finished, Jack raised his head up slightly and grunted to the still cowering Claudia "You are what we called in the U.S. Army, 'one hell of a bad luck charm' girl."

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	39. Oscar and Emile I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This if purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Oscar and Emile's Room_

As Emile laid down on his bunk bed on the top, his brother Oscar was below doing maintenance on his sniper rifle. Emile's coughing was getting pretty bad at the moment so he opted to just lay down for a while until it cleared up. However it also made it difficult for Oscar to concentrate on working on his gun. Every cough simply reminded Oscar of the fact that his very sick brother Emile is now in the Militia...against his express wishes that he simply stayed at the refugee camp with their parents. He was still pretty upset about the fact, though not as much as he was two days ago. Another quick wave of violent coughs from Emile quickly grab his attention. Oscar set down his rifle and looks up to Emile in concern.

"You still getting those? How long has it been since the last time that happened?" asked a worried Oscar.

"It was about a few months before the war. Last Christmas I think," answered Emile in the best way he could think of as he stared at the ceiling upon his top bunk. Due to his condition, he would once in a while have these spells of violent coughing. It wasn't serious other than the fact that it would often leave him with a temporary shortness of breath.

"Has it gotten any worse Emile? Because to me it sound's like it's getting worse ," suggested Oscar.

Emile simply replied back "No, don't worry. I'm good. To me, every one of these spells feels the same to me. I can never tell if they're getting worse or better."

"Still, you should be back at the refugee camp. The doctors there could help you. They can give you medicine. Something at least for the cough," pleaded Oscar, trying one last attempt to persuade his brother. He knew that Emile's mind was already made up in that he would stay in Squad 7 and fight this war alongside his brother. But that didn't stop Oscar for caring about his safety. He truly believed that the refugee camps were the only real place where his brother would be safe and away from harm from the wrath of the German Army. So he would at least try one last time to try and change the mind of his brother and hopefully make Emile see the danger he would be putting himself in if he stayed in the Militia.

Emile however saw right through it. He looked turned his head and looked downward towards the sitting Oscar and said "Oscar, I know what you're trying to do here. And I'm telling you it's not going to work. I've already made my decision and I'm going to stick with it no matter what you try to tell me. I'm staying in the Militia, and I'm going to fight this war alongside you."

Oscar simply let out a sigh in the face of his defeat. He knew that trying to change Emile's mind was a long shot. Emile was always stubborn. Whenever he had his mind put to something, he always seemed to stick to it and just ignored everything else that Oscar said to him. From what he heard from some of the other Squad 7 members, Lieutenant Gunther's sister Isara, was just as stubborn as Emile. So at least his commanding officer knew just how he felt when it came to younger siblings. And as of right now, Oscar's sibling had him dead to rights. So he figured that all he could do now was respect his wishes and just deal with it.

"Okay. I understand. I won't try and talk you out of it anymore. Just stick close to me when we're out there fighting, okay?" suggested Oscar in which Emile responded with a silent nod.

"You know, I'm not really surprised that we both ended up as Snipers. I guess it came from us always taking potshots at tin cans on our roof with Dad's old hunting rifle whenever we had the chance," mentioned Emile, remembering the moment. Their dad kept an old rifle from the Great War which he then put to use during hunting season as his weapon of choice. When Oscar and Emile began their courses of required military training, he helped them to learn how to fire a rifle when they were both in middle school. After a few false starts, they managed to get the hang of it and turned into genuine rural marksmen in no time. This seemed to help them as now they were both in the same class as Snipers. However, they were nowhere near the level of Marina Wulfstan, whom they had already seen perform extraordinary feats of sniping.

Remembering those happy moments with their father, Oscar let out a chuckle before replying "Yeah. That would explain it. How are Mom and Dad anyway?"

"They're okay. They're helping out around the camps, getting people to work together, that kind of stuff. It seems that they've made it their job to somehow raise everyone's morale. And they actually do a pretty good job of doing that," answered Emile, remembering exactly what his parents were doing in the camps before he left for the Militia. Things there had been getting rather desperate. The feeling of their impending doom seemed to spread like a wildfire throughout the camp, as many felt that in the next day would be the one that the Nazi _Wehrmacht_ storms the area and takes them all as prisoners. Things have been like that for a while and Valkyrur knows how much longer that's going to last before people were going to feel safe again.

"Well at least their safe for now. I don't know how things could get any worse in this war," said Oscar, saying his thoughts out loud.

"I know one: we could lose the war and we'll end up having to say '_Sieg Heil' _for the rest of our stinking lives," said Emile, the thought just coming into his head.

"Well...yeah...I guess that is how it could get worse," admitted Oscar, now knowing that there definitely is a way that this whole situation can be worse.

* * *

**Next Support Conversation involves four people: Vyse, Aika, Fina, and Alex. This may be fun.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	40. Vyse, Aika, Fina, and Alex I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Squad 7 Barracks_

_Vyse and Aika's room_

"And then I'm standing there with the piglet in my arms. The guy is using me as a shield with a gun to my head and I'm just trying to move so that Aika doesn't shoot me instead of him," said Vyse, trying to talk and laugh at the same time. He and Aika had gathered Fina and Alex, brought them into their room and were regaling them with tales of their wild adventures before they had come to Gallia. The story they were currently on was where Vyse and Aika were in a near death situation with a cartel of smugglers they had an encounter with a few months before the war began. And Vyse was trying to tell it without losing himself in his laughter from remembering the moment.

Alex, who is laughing just as hard, asked him "So how did you get free?"

"You won't believe this. Aika told him that if he let me go then she would show him her chest," explained Vyse, with Aika simply bowing her head and shaking it slightly, remembering the event. Fina and Alex's faces simply froze from amazement about the event. For some reason, they were just surprised hearing that the tomboy Aika was willing to flash the guy holding her friend Vyse at gunpoint. Thye kept wondering what on earth she would accomplish by doing this.

"Did you?" asked Alex, wondering if it actually happened.

"No. Because when I said that he had that same stupid expression on your face which gave Vyse enough time to knock him out," corrected Aika, telling them what actually happened after that instead of what they probably thought happened. She remembered that day very clearly because for two weeks Vyse would never let her hear the end of it. Every day he reminded her of it just to spite her or make her blush at remembering, where the latter happened the most. Out of all their adventures they've ever been on, this was by far one of the few that stood out from all the rest.

"How many adventures have you guys been on?" asked Fina, being quite curious. She had always wanted to go on adventures that were thrilling and dangerous. But considering that she was already in the Militia, that in itself was already a major adventure.

Vyse was honest with his answer when he explained "With all of them that we've ever had...I'm pretty sure that everything Aika and I have been through seems as though it was all mashed together into one big adventure that has lasted throughout our entire lives."

"It's just so hard to keep track of them all," added Aika, agreeing with Vyse's words.

Alex seemed entranced by the tales of their stories. He had always wished to travel outside of Gallia and see the world. To travel by sea, land, and most of all, by sky as he see's all the wonders of the world and go on crazy adventures of his own. Hearing such tales from Vyse and Aika, two veteran travelers in their squad, just made his desire grow more and more with each story told.

"Well what about you Alex? Why don't you tell us about yourself?" asked Fina, turning her head to Alex as she wished to know more about her friend.

"I came from a small town here in Central Gallia. I tend to like anything with a clear view. So basically I climbed any tree I could find and stare at the sky for hours at a time," explained Alex.

"Why the sky?" asked Fina, curious as to why he was so fixated on the sky.

"I guess I always wanted to be up there in the sky. Become the Captain of a zeppelin or maybe a pilot even. I'm just fascinated by the idea of being up there in the sky," said Alex, wasting no time in explaining his reason why. Vyse and Aika could see why. Ever since the invention of the airplane by the American Wright brothers as well as their extensive use alongside zeppelins during the Great War, travel though air has been on the rise for the past twenty years. And while the airplane had already proven it's usefulness before the war, it was during the Great War and after that the zeppelins and other airships began to rise in both civilians and military applications. People were now piloting these things all over the world and it seemed that the list for their uses would never end. And the for the people who flew in them, it was one hell of an experience that they would never forget. A feeling that Vyse and Aika knew all too well and enjoyed immensely.

"What about you Fina? Anything about you we should know? Family, origins, background, that kind of thing I mean," asked Alex, now curious about Fina's origins.

"Well for one thing I have two sisters. We're all triplets," said Fina, her family being the first thing that came to mind.

"Triplets huh? What are their names?" asked Aika.

"Their names are Mina and Gina. We're pretty much identical," answered Fina.

Vyse let out a chuckle before remarking "You're identical? Then how the hell does someone tell you three apart? Do you have to wear name tags or something?"

Fina let out an even harder laugh than Vyse after hearing his comment. Apparently she thought there was something about it that was funny that the rest of their group failed to notice. Through the laughter she managed to say "That's a new one. 'Wearing name tags'? Seriously?"

Everyone in the room simply smiled back and maybe laughed a little bit at Fina's reaction. Apparently, her laughter is pretty contagious to the three of them.

* * *

**Next up on our Support Conversation marathon is the duo Juno Coren and Aisha Neumann.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	41. Juno and Aisha I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Right Outside Squad 7 Barracks_

Outside of their barracks, Juno Coren and Aisha Neumann, Squad 7's youngest member at the age of just twelve years old, were working together to stack these small wooden crates along the walls of their barracks and keep them organized. These wooden crates were both empty but that didn't mean that they were light. They still weighed a significant amount of weight. It was still light enough however to be carried by a single person. Just so long as that person wasn't Aisha who was having trouble just picking them off the ground. As Juno was placing her fifth crate upon the stack, she looked to Aisha who was still struggling to carry her first one over to the pile, often having to place it down for a few minutes in order to rest her hands and muscles. She would then pick it up once more and carry it another few feet before having to do the same thing over again until she get's that box over to the stack of crates. As she put her crate down to rest her arms once again, Juno, out of pity for the young girl, walked over to her. Juno then knelt down, picked up the crate, and then proceeded to putting it in it's rightful place on the top of the stack.

"Hey! I was going to put that there!" cried out Aisha, sounding a bit upset.

"I'm sorry Aisha. You looked like you were having trouble so I thought I'd help out. And we needed to get this done quickly. I managed to stack all the crates, but you had trouble with just one of them," explained Juno.

"But I was just trying to help. I can help," pleaded Aisha, quite certain on the subject. In response, Juno walked over to her and knelt down to get to Aisha's height.

"Why are you here in the Militia, Aisha? You're only twelve. Shouldn't you be home with your parents?" inquired a concerned Juno. To her, she didn't exactly see Aisha as a soldier. She simply saw her as this young kid who shouldn't be here to fight a war. The Germans weren't going to show Aisha any mercy just because she was much younger than any of the Gallian Regulars or Militiamen currently serving. If they see anyone in a Gallian uniform or anyone with a gun they'll open fire on her just the same.

"Because I'm smart. And because I wanted to be helpful. Everyone said I'm too young for this and I wanted to show them wrong," said Aisha. She wanted to be able to prove to everyone that even though she was much younger than everyone in her squad, that she can be helpful. She may not have the same amount of endurance, stamina, or experience as they did but that didn't mean that she was useless. She wanted to help fight this war as best as she could. Do the same things that others could do.

With a deep sigh, Juno asked "Do you really want to be helpful?"

And with a quick nod, Aisha answered the question. Mostly because she thought that Juno was finally going to give her an important task so that she can show just how helpful she can really be to them.

"If you want to help, let us do the heavy lifting. And in combat, stay well behind us. We don't want you getting hurt out there," suggested Juno. The moment she heard that, Aisha's optimism about having assigned an important assignment were dashed away within seconds. Now they were just going to keep her far from the action instead of having her be helpful on the front line. And as Juno got back up on her feet and walked away, Aisha simply bowed her head in sadness and slowly trotted back inside the barracks. As Juno walked away, she caught sight of Welkin talking to Alicia about something. They talked for a little bit before Alicia, with clipboard in hand, left Welkin to rejoin the others who were gathering inside of the barracks. Juno decided to talk to Welkin about the Aisha matter. And when she got to him that's what she started to say "Um, Lieutenant? Can I have a word with you?"

"Juno, you don't have to call me Lieutenant. We've known each other far too long for that," corrected Welkin, not looking for his college friend to treat him any differently than she did before the war. Juno and he went to Randgriz University together along with Jack and Faldio before the Nazi Invasion. In fact, she helped both him and Faldio to rescue Jack from those bullies when Jack first arrived at the University. It seemed almost like fate that all of them would join the Militia to fight in this war. 'Friends until the end' as they were.

"Right, well it's about Aisha. I'm worried that she's going to get herself hurt out there. She's just a kid you know," said Juno, emphasizing her concern for the young girl.

"You seem quite attached to Aisha, Juno," noted Welkin.

"I care about her. She's like a little sister to me. Kind of like how Isara is with you. I'm trying to look after her," explained Juno.

"So what is it exactly that you want me to do?" asked Welkin, sympathizing with her and wondering if there was anything he can do to help. He knows what it's like to worry about losing Isara so he knows what Juno may be feeling like at the moment.

Juno simply asked him "Just let me keep an eye on her will you. I want to make sure personally that she's safe at the rear when Squad 7 gets into another fight with the Nazis."

Welkin nodded his head and replied "Alright. You can do that. You know this means that she's your responsibility from now on right?"

"I do. And I won't fail. I promise that," said a confident Juno as she turned on her heel and headed for Squad 7's barracks with Welkin close behind.

* * *

**Next up lads is Hermes Kissenger and Nina Streiss.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	42. Hermes and Nina I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Fort Amaranthine Training Grounds_

As the sunlight begins to fade, Nina decides to try and run the obstacle course of Fort Amaranthine just once before she would have to turn in for the night. With her physical build, her whole stamina, and finally her past experience from running the course over a dozen times she flies by this with very little effort and time to spare. And as she crosses the finish line with seconds to spare. Checking her watch, she notices something and remarks to herself "Huh. I beat my record by a few seconds. Nice."

Nina kept track of how fast she would complete an obstacle course. After that she would constantly train herself for another run and hope to herself that she would be able to set a new record which she did most of the time. She did this until she was certain that there was no possible way for her to beat it again. It was all she could do at the moment in order to keep herself in shape during this war. Even though all the running she does on the battlefield tends to help a bit. As she begins to catch her breath, she hears the heavy panting and wheezing of someone coming up behind her.

Nina turns around to see Hermes, one of Squad 7's Scouts, slowly crawling forward upon the ground. He was panting and wheezing so much that she thought he had no more air in his lungs. And he was covered in a thick coat of sweat compared to the light coat of sweat on Nina. After crawling for a few extra feet, he immediately gave out rolled onto his back, limbs spread out as he's now too weak to move them. And Nina can see in his face that the man was physically exhausted from having to run the same obstacle course that she had just zipped through.

"Are you...okay?" asked Nina quite bluntly as she looked upon Hermes sorry state.

"I'm...okay...just...a little...out of breathe...," said Hermes, saying a few word in between every gasp of air.

"Do you ever work out? Or are you too busy chasing tail for that?" questioned Hermes if his somewhat lack of physical stamina had anything to do with his love for girls.

"Sort of...I tend to...do that...yeah...but was...never able...to finish dates," answered Hermes, once again speaking through his gasps for air. While it was true that he did feel the need to flirt with every pretty girl he saw, his complete lack of stamina meant that he would have trouble keeping up with any girl he went out with. As a result of this, he would often have to leave a date before it had officially ended. And this left Hermes with a pretty bad reputation among the ladies which continued over to this day.

"Well you're not going to get many girls like this," commented Nina, shaking her head in disapproval. To Nina, she simply couldn't believe that Hermes wasn't the least dedicated to being fit. She believed that a sound body helps to save lives. This inspired her to train her physique daily and in nine years she hadn't missed a single days workout. With her strength she could have become a Lancer. But to her, the heavy armor covering tanks and blast suits worn by lancers run counter to her philosophy of fighting with one's body alone, earning them both her disdain.

Hermes, who had managed to get his breath back, got back up on his feet and dusted himself off. He looked to Nina and admitted "It's not just the girls that I'm worried about you know."

"How so?" asked Nina, wondering where he was going with this.

"After the war I wanted to be an action star like you see in the movies. That is, hoping if this war ends with us winning and not the Nazis," said Hermes. He was always fascinated by the stunts he saw people do in the movies growing up and he decided that he would at least try and become like them some day. He thought that being in the Militia would help him build the endurance and stamina necessary for this. Unfortunately he hasn't had any sign of improvement since this war began and he was beginning to wonder if his situation was ever truly going to change.

"Well I'll tell you this: with your physical state, I'd rate your chances of landing that job at highly unlikely," said Nina, sad that she had to deliver such bad news to him.

Hermes sighed before admitting "Yeah. I know. No matter what I do I just can't do any better at getting fit. What am I supposed to do now?"

Nina could see how upset this was making him. From what she could tell he was pretty torn up about this. It seemed that his dream was about to crash and burn before it had even taken off from the ground. She didn't know what that feeling felt like but she could likely tell that this feeling was something that would tear a man up inside until there was nothing good left. Nina didn't know why she was about to say next, but out from her mouth blurted the words "You know, if you want I can help you out with that."

Hermes instantly looked at Nina with surprise written all over his face. He just couldn't believe he had just heard Nina suggest helping him out with training. Still shocked, he asked her "Are you serious?"

"Yes. But right now I'm tired so we'll start tomorrow. Come on," said Nina as she walked back to the barracks with her arm around Hermes shoulders. Though this day was over, Hermes was going to have the workout of his life starting tomorrow after breakfast for the next couple of months. Hopefully, this will end up with some results instead of nothing at all.

* * *

**Alright my friends, the next one here is the cynical Darcsen hating Sniper Cezary Regard and ironically, two Darcsens named Nadine and Wavy. This one should be interesting to write, let alone write.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	43. Cezary, Nadine, and Wavy I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Squad 7 Barracks Rec Room_

Unlike most barracks for armies, Gallia's were used to house entire squads and featured a small Rec Room to hold squad meetings or just for recreation after a long day of battle. Though this was an oddity among European armies, it seemed to suit the Gallian Military purposes quite well. It came with some tables, chairs, couches and can be modified by each Gallian unit with their personal choices in order to add more character to it and make it feel more like home. And considering how far they would have to go to win the war, this will be their home for a long time. In the meantime, several members of Squad 7 were already making use of this room before they would turn in for the night.

Sitting at one of the tables, Nadine was writing her memoirs in her personal journal while Cezary sat not far away on the couch. He was dismantling his GSR-M4 sniper rifle in order to clean it. Except he was having a hard time of doing that with Nadine sitting so close to him. Just the mere presence of the Darcsen girl was annoying the hell out of him. With his patience at an end, he dropped what he was doing, looked at Nadine and said with frustration "Can you do that somewhere else Dark-hair? Preferably so I don't have to smell your stench."

Nadine simply scoffed at his comment. One common insult to Darcsens is that they all had a particular "stench" that people would recognize. However, their smell came from when they worked in the Ragnite refineries. In their work they had to use various oils which had very pungent smells that would linger on them for hours after their shift was over. Another stereotype was that the Darcsens were "doomy", "gloomy", "meek" or "not team-minded" due to their pacifist nature. Nadine had heard those insults all her life, and she wasn't looking forward to hearing them now.

Irritated, she closed her journal, turned to face Cezary and spoke back with venom in her words "And why should I move? I'm perfectly fine where I am now."

"Well I'm not. It's bad enough that they allow people like you in the Militia, and I would prefer it if I didn't have to see your face every time I turn around. Nor breathe the same air as you. So will you just scram and get the hell out of here? You're making me nauseous," spat out Cezary, meaning every word that he said.

"Well sadly, I don't care. I'm going to keep siting here until I have a reason to leave," stated Nadine, holding her ground in this argument.

"Oh great, just what I need. What I don't need anymore today is another one of your kind being this close to me," stated Cezary in disgust.

"Too bad for you. I'm going to be here for a long time. You and I are going to be fighting together, side by side until this war ends or when one of us dies," commented Nadine, pointing out her claim.

"If only God was only that merciful to your own people Darkie," countered Cezary, using Nadine's own words against her. It seemed that got to Nadine's nerves, as she began to grip her pencil harder and harder until it was on the very verge of being snapped in half. This insult she heard was by far the worst one yet. Disgusted by Cezary and his words, Nadine simply grabbed her journal, got up from her seat, and stormed out of the Rec Room without so much as saying another word. As she slammed the door and continued walking, she ended up running into Wavy, another Darcsen in their squad.

"Are you okay Nadine?" asked Wavy, taking note of how fast she came out of the Rec Room.

"Do I look okay to you?!" said an angry Nadine, pointing to her face which was visibly upset.

"What happened?" asked Wavy, wondering if there was some way he could help her.

"Cezary happened. That guy can't open his mouth without either insulting me or our people. Right now I want to shut this guy up by punching him right in his jaw. No teeth will do wonders on him," answered Nadine. She had heard those insults all her life and was getting completely sick and tired of hearing them. If she heard just one more insult come out of that bastard Cezary's mouth she was literally going to do what she said she was going to do.

"I wouldn't do that. Remember what you're taught. 'Darcsens don't retaliate'," reminded Wavy, trying to stop her from lashing out at Cezary in an angry fit.

"Don't tell me that. I heard that all my life. Don't you ever think that maybe not doing anything just gives them encouragement to insult us more? Knowing that we won't fight back?" questioned Nadine, calling every bit of what her family taught her about not fighting back. Despite being told since she was a kid to never retaliate when she was insulted or abused for her race, she found that it never truly helped at all for no matter how much she tried, people never seemed to change how they treated her.

"People don't change overnight Nadine. Cezary will come to respect you, but it'll take time for that to happen. Trust me. By the time this war is over he'll have a new found respect for you," assured Wavy. He knew that it was a very, very long time until it was possible for prejudice against the Darcsens to decrease greatly. Many Darcsens who wanted to just get away from the persecution simply packed their things, left their homes and left on a ship bound for the United States. At least there they would be treated as equals. But Wavy wanted something more. He wanted to help the Darcsens who chose to stay get along better with the people of Europe, as distasteful as that sounded.

And it seemed to work for Nadine. With a heavy sign, she calmed down slightly and admitted "Okay. I'll _try_ to be patient. Where the hell did you become a conflict resolver?"

"I have a wife back home who's a lot like you. I tend to have to calm her down before she did anything rash. Right now she's back home taking care of our daughter," answered Wavy as the thought of his family reminds him of what he's fighting for personally in this war.

"Oh. Well, they're lucky to have you around to protect them," praised Nadine. With that in mind, the two of them went their separate ways within the barracks, with Nadine heading to her bunk and Wavy to his in order to write a letter to his wife.

* * *

**Up next is Jane Turner and Hannes Salinger, the two Imperial haters, or should I say Nazi Haters in all of Squad 7. This should be easy.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	44. Jane and Hannes I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Fort Amaranthine Shooting Range Area 2_

In another section of the shooting range, two other members of Squad 7 were getting some last minute practice with small arms combat. Jane and Hannes had brought in several different types of weaponry available to Shocktroopers and were testing them out to see which one of them would suit their skills in combat. However at the moment the only weapons available were the Mags-M4 sub-machine gun and the American supplied American light machine gun. It was from these two that they would make their choice. As Jane was finished with loading each of their weapons, Hannes came back from setting up their targets down on the firing range.

"Alright then, let's see what we can do. I set up a bunch of kraut helmets in a line. Just imagine that they're the real thing and then we'll have some fun," said Hannes, rubbing his hands in excitement.

Jane did the same, and with a devilish grin upon her face she admitted "I would enjoy this more if I could hear their enticing screams as they died. But this'll do."

Jane then grabbed a BAR and holding it at waist height she pointed downrange at the helmets and let loose with a long burst of .30-06 caliber bullets upon them. The red tracers shined brightly as the buzzed through the air like little fireflies moving at race car speed. Jane held down that burst for as long as the gun kept firing. Which it did until it's twenty round magazine was completely empty. After she put it down, she looked to see the damage. She had managed to hit five helmets out of the twenty they had lined up. Any that missed simply hit the ground or slammed into the large pile of dirt behind the targets. Jane simply grinned at the results and made up her mind quite quickly "I'll take the BAR. With this I can kill all the Nazi bastards to my hearts content."

She quickly got off the shooting range to let Hannes do his turn. Instead of starting with the BAR like Jane did, he opted to use the Mags-M4. He quickly leveled the weapon, looked down his sights, and fired away at the targets with controlled bursts. The bursts were short and quick, about three rounds each. And add in his use of the sights instead of firing blindly helped as well, allowing him to take down more targets than her. By the time it was over and his ammo was spent, his grand total of shot helmets was seven. Two more than Jane had gotten.

"If this was a contest to see if which one can kill the most Nazi helmets, looks like I just won," said a confident Hannes. Jane simply stared at this with anger swirling in her heart. She just couldn't believe that Hannes had beat her in something related to her new found and violent passion: killing Nazi scum brutally and listening to the sweet and joyful noises they made as each one died in agonizing pain. If he can do better than that just on practice, then it was most likely that he can kill more Nazis on the front lines of their next mission as well. And that was something that Jane just couldn't allow.

With determination in her now always angry looking face, she turned to Hannes and challenges "I say I can kill more Nazis than you. Twice as much."

"I doubt that Jane. Not by a long shot," said Hannes, bluntly.

"And why is that?!" shouted Jane.

"When it comes to killing Nazis, I like to kill them quickly and move on to the next target. You just kill one and listen to his last gasps before moving onto another one. You savor their death while the rest of us add to our tally. Face it. Even Jack killed more Russians in his day than you," claimed Hannes as he pointed out the facts.

"Don't mention that goddamn Nazi lover with me. The man is friends with one of their goddamned Princes. I say that anyone who befriends one should die just like the rest," claimed an irritated Jane upon hearing Jack's name. She thought little of Jack upon hearing of his friendship with the dreaded Black Prince. Add her intense and burning hatred for the Nazis and Jack was just as much as one as all of them put together. If it wasn't for Welkin's orders she would have shot him by now.

"Aw, just leave the kid out of this. He's been through a lot these past few days," said Hannes, drawing sympathy for him.

"Wait a minute. You're actually protecting that Nazi loving bastard?" questioned Jane, not believing what she was hearing.

"I'm just saying if the kid was a kraut he would have done something to show it by now. I'm not saying I don't believe in his friendship with one but he has killed his fair share of Germans already. Maybe we should cut him a bit of slack," explained Hannes.

"Pffft. I don't give a damn about him. But what I do give a damn about is that I can kill more Germans than you," claimed Jane, pointing her finger directly at Hannes.

Hannes simply raised and eyelid and jokingly asked her "Oh yeah? And how is it that you plan to do that?"

"We'll settle this in our next mission. Whoever kills the most krauts by the time the fight's over gets fifty Ducats. Agreed?" bet Jane, wanting a chance to settle this score right here and now.

"Alright then. You're on 'Sadistic Jane'," agreed Hannes, saying the unique nickname that the people in the squad have given her. And just like that, the two wandered back to the barracks, each thinking that they were about to become about fifty Ducats richer and with a high kill count.

* * *

**Alright, up next is Kreis Czherny and Leon Schmidt, the mechanics of Squad 7. I may even include Isara in this one just for fun.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	45. Kreis and Leon I

**Heads up my fellow readers! In this Support Conversation, the Gallians get a new toy in order to fight against the Nazis.**

* * *

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Vehicle Hanger closest to Squad 7 Barracks_

In the hanger, Leon and Kreis has brought Isara to see the newest tank created by R&amp;D. Supposedly it was something, that according to the both of them, was going to help Gallia have a tank capable of fighting the more advanced and superior German Panzer IV's, Tiger, and Panther tanks. The tanks were covered up by large, white fabric sheets. And from the shape of the cloth as it conformed to the tank, one can tell that it is incredibly big, almost as big as the _Edelweiss_ who was parked next to them. Isara, already a little sleepy, yawned a bit as Leon and Kreis led her directly to be placed in front of the tank and stepped to either side of the tank to prepare for the unveiling of the tank to her.

"Well, I'll say this: from the size alone I'm already impressed. I wonder what is looks like underneath," complimented Isara.

"Oh trust me. You are going to love this. Get ready to be amazed," suggested Leon. He then looked to Kreis and gave him a nod, affirming him that now was the time. The both of them grabbed a handful of the sheet with both hands and pulled back as hard as they could. They pulled the sheet until it was completely off the tank. They looked back to Isara who was standing there with wide eyes and an open mouth as she stared at the tank in awe as Leon and Kreis stood beside her and smiled at this marvel.

The tank itself was a heavily modified British Mark V tank that was heavily used by the Federation and Gallian forces during the Great War. These were among the first tanks which set about the beginnings or research and development that went into today's tanks. One of the major changes that was evident was the addition of a Gallian light tank turret welded upon the top. The turret was slightly altered by it's British builders in that the cannon barrel was centered instead of off to the side like it was normally built. The other evident feature was that there was additional armored plating on the front and the sides. The final touches to the tank was the blue and white Gallian paint scheme as well as the markings to make it officially one of their tanks. And after she had picked her mouth up from off the floor, so to speak, Kreis set about explaining the specs on this brand new tank.

"R&amp;D managed to make the designs of this thing before the war. We sent the blueprints to the British who began building them to our specifications. When the war began however, we sent some modifications for them. This is the first of a hundred units that have made it past the German blockade. It has three inches of armored plating in the front, two in the side and in the rear, and finally an inch and a half for the turret," explained Kreis.

Leon got up on the tank and explained further "The main turret has a 75 millimeter short-barreled cannon and the two side mounted 35 millimeter cannons on the side sponsons. To top it off it's got four Gallian Maxim 7.92 millimeter machine guns. One in the turret, one mounted in the hull, and the other two mounted right behind each of the gun covering the sides. This thing is more than ready to take a fight straight to the Nazis."

Isara walked along the outside of the tank, soaking in every inch of this marvelous design. She recognized it as one of her father's, Theimer, earlier designs. It was a concept of a modified heavy tank to help Gallia's and the Federation's proposed advances into Germania during the later stages of the Great War which were scrapped when the Armistice was called and the Treaty of Versailles was signed, ending the conflict before these planned offensives left the drawing board. She had known this because every chance she got she would look over her father's old notes and drawings and try to see if there was any way to make them today or possibly improve them for modern day use. As she walked around the tank, she noticed something else on the tank that was also of her father's design. she could see that the engine compartment had been modified to be filled with a much more powerful and modern engine. This allowed the tank to perform at a greatly improved level from what it did in the Great War.

"Have these things seen any action?" asked Isara.

"No, not yet. A detachment of them is being sent south to the Ardennes. They're looking to see if these tanks will help break the stalemate down there," answered Kries.

"The Regular Army's launching an attack?" asked a surprised Isara, curious that they were finally doing something on the Southern Front after all of this time.

"Possibly. All the rumors we heard suggest that a couple of officers were sent there. Maybe they're heading to those supply bases Princess Lucina mentioned about," suggested Leon.

"You could be- Wait a minute, how do you know about that?" questioned Isara when she realized that they know something that they weren't told about earlier.

Leon simply shrugged and answered "We eavesdropped. You'd be surprised how many times people forget that we're even in the same room as them." The statement was true. When Leon and Kries were in the room, people tended to ignore them and continue talking. This gave the two the best opportunity to eavesdrop on people and catch some nice gossip or rumors. After all, people do tend to blab in front of the people that they considered invisible or possibly have no real use for the information of what they heard. But if there was anyone who knew everything that was happening on this base, Kries and Leon were the ones to go to for answers.

"Well that explains a lot. By the way, what are the names of these tanks?" inquired a curious Isara.

With a smile on his face, Kries said "Their official designation is the _Theimer_ Heavy Tank."

When those words reached her ears, Isara's face lit up with the widest smile she had ever had. It was as if she had just heard the greatest news that was ever possible to hear in her lifetime. She was fortunate that she was alive to see her father's work still influencing the world to this day. Just hearing that was enough to fill her heart with joy. And she hoped that one day, she'll be able to continue his legacy and help make the world a much better place than it was today. And those thoughts stayed in her head all night as she and the mechanics walked over to the barracks for the night.

* * *

**Next up is Kevin Abbott and Dorothy Howard. Hang in there boys and girls! At this rate I'll have these conversations done in no time!**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	46. Kevin and Dorothy I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Outside Squad 7 Barracks_

Dorothy Howard was sitting on a bench just outside the barracks in a secluded area away from everyone else. She wanted to be away from the crowds for a bit in order to have some alone time for herself. She wanted to check o something she had received recently in the mail from her parents in Fouzen. Even though the city was under heavy occupation by the German Army, people still found a way to send mail to their loved ones on the other side of the front lines, albeit at their own risks. Dorothy opened up her envelope to see it have a pair of earrings and a necklace that she had made before the invasion. Before the war she worked at a jewelry factory in Fouzen. During her breaks she made her own pieces of Jewelry based on her own designs. There was also this note from her parents inside which she began to read.

**_Dear Dorothy,_**

**_Your father and I are doing fine. Things have been a bit rough here since the occupation started. We've had to make a few sacrifices in order to make sure the Germans don't come to seize our house for some military nonsense. Everything here is rationed by them. Power, food, heat, everything. And if you do something to make them angry they end up limiting your rations even more. We've been working extra hours and our new Nazi Reich foremen plague our ironwork's factory and they won't give our workers breaks during these work sessions. Your father and I did however manage to find a few of your pieces of work still around so we've decided to send them to you for good luck. I'm just glad that you're safe on the Gallian side. It's about the one thing that's keeping me sane throughout this whole ordeal. I hope that someday we'll be able to see each other again once the war is over. _**

**_Praying to see you alive again, Your Mom and Dad_**

**_P.S. I don't know how long you may be in Randgriz. But what I would like to ask is for you to try and open up to others more and make a few new friends. You may surprise yourself on who may want to be your friend._**

This letter was enough to help soothe Dorothy's worries about what was happening in Fouzen since she left. Her parents sent her away to Randgriz as the German advance was nearing the city and they stayed behind to help others left behind. However, she neglected to mention to them that she was drafted into the Militia when she got to Randgriz. She just didn't want them to worry about her any more than they already were, just for their sake. And she would have to keep it that way until the Gallian Army could free Fouzen...if they would ever get there at all. And the last note on her parent's letter was something that she had heard throughout her entire childhood. She always had this stage fright when she was growing up and she just fell apart when she had to speak in front of a group of people. Her parents had always encouraged her to open up to others but it was a problem for Dorothy and she never quite got the handle on it. But perhaps they were right. Now that she was in the Militia, she would have to talk to her squad mates if they were going to be fighting. She'll really have to work on them this time. Just as she was putting the letter away, a voice called out to her from right next to her.

"Hey Dorothy. What are you doing?" asked a voice anyone could recognize as that belonging to Kevin Abbott. His sudden appearance scared the daylights out of her so much that without any warning she shot up from her bench and yelled out a very high pitched scream at the top of her lungs. Apparently she didn't do very well with people who sneaked up on her without her noticing. After he moment of perpetual fright had passed she quickly turned to face Kevin who had his hands over his face for he feared that she may punch him in her scared fright.

Dorothy, now calmed down, spoke to Kevin and said in her own stuttering voice "K-Kevin. Wh-what are you d-doing here?"

"I came to tell you that everyone is beginning to turn in for the night. However I was weighing my options on either to tell you or just send you a memo. Obviously I should have chosen the memo," answered Kevin in his usual timid manner.

"You c-can't make u-up you mind very often c-can you?" asked Dorothy, having noticed it quite often.

"Yeah. I was never good at making decisions. It's how I ended up being a Shocktrooper. I wanted to be either an Engineer or a Sniper, but I just couldn't decide. They just ended up making me a Shocktrooper just to get it over with," explained Kevin. Dorothy remarked on that decision with some thought and soon came to the same conclusion. She had noticed that Kevin was timid. At least he wasn't an officer. If he was, then that would be a disaster just waiting to happen.

"Well what about you? Why don't you come in and talk with the rest of us?" suggested Kevin, bringing the conversation back on topic. He thought of this because he had never truly seen her talking to any group of people in Squad 7 before. He wanted to see if she would at least want to talk with a few people before they all went to sleep for the evening.

Dorothy hesitated for a bit, her face turned slightly red, and she took a few steps back before she finally responded with "Um, n-no thanks. I-I'll just...I...I'm going now."

And without another word, she simply walked away into the barracks, avoiding eye contact with Kevin as she made her way inside the barracks, leaving Kevin almost stunned and quite a bit confused. After a few seconds, he too also walked into the barracks.

* * *

**Up next are two female Lancers by the name of Audrey Heitinga and Rosina Seldon.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	47. Audrey and Rosina I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Inside Fort Amaranthine Mess Hall_

In the final minutes before the end of dinner at the mess hall, the last lingering Gallian Regulars and Militiamen were putting their trays away and turning in for the night. For many, it had been a long and hard day with many having just returned from the front. And tomorrow would no doubt be another hard day, and another one the day after that. It was a never ending cycle for them that appeared without an end in sight. A few however, such as Rosina and Audrey, were looking forward to the end of the day and too some nice long hours of sleep. They could use if after the rough missions they had for the past few days.

"Whoa, I'm beat. What about you?" asked Audrey, as she finished the last of her food.

"Nope. Right now I feel like I can do twenty push-ups before I go to bed," stated Rosina proudly as the two of them got up and began walking over to put away their trays.

"Really? I thought you would have at least be a little tired because of all the fighting you guys did from the past couple of days," said Audrey, surprised by Rosina's resilience.

Audrey and Rosina put their trays on the stacks and Rosina commented "No shit. I work out any time that I'm off duty. My motto is "must have muscles". If you don't have them, then you need to work out. I don't tolerate those with none."

"Hey there. Just because I don't have your muscles doesn't mean I'm not strong," commented Audrey, pointing out her arms compared to Rosina's muscular ones. She didn't really believe that what Rosina said was true. I mean, the two of them were both Lancers, and they both had to carry a large and heavy anti-tank weapon, heavy armored plating, and ammo for their weapon. One would need a lot of strength just to lug all of that around the battlefield while getting shot at. That had to mean something at the very least.

"Oh yeah? Then how about you prove it to me, right here and now?" challenged Rosina as she raised an eyebrow at her statement. She was quite intrigued by Audrey's bold statement, if not amused by how she thought that way. From Rosina's own personal experience, it was those who had muscles that were quite stronger than those without muscles. There was just no doubt in her mind that it was true. And she was looking forward to in what way that Audrey was about to prove her wrong. And she enjoyed the wait as Audrey looked around for a way. Then, eyeing a watermelon sitting on the counter Audrey soon had her answer.

Audrey pointed at the watermelon and boldly claimed "I bet you I can crush that watermelon with just one hit from my fist."

Rosina simply laughed a bit at that before stating "Seriously? I've seen more than enough people who claimed they could do that. None of which ended like how they claimed."

Audrey paid no attention to Rosina and immediately walked over to the melon. She picked it up and placed it upon one of the tables, sitting it still so that she could hit it without missing. Rosina took up a nearby stool and sat down as she prepared to observe what she believed to be Audrey about to make a fool of herself. Leaning against the wall, Rosina looked on as Audrey began readying herself. She cracked her knuckles, loosened up her arm, and practiced the angle of her punch against the watermelon. After all those small little rituals, she was finally ready for her moment of glory. The now ready Audrey now proclaimed "Alright. I am ready to prove you wrong!"

"And I am ready for you to make a fool of yourself. So to speak," countered Rosina, with a confident smirk on her face. Audrey took in a deep breath and with a might heave, she threw her fist at the watermelon as hard as she could. And once it hit the skin, the force of her blow punched right through it's thick walls and into it's soft center. The crushed insides of the watermelon seeped out tons of red juice through the crushed wall, a sign of Audrey's claim being victorious. And with a triumphant smile plastered upon her face, she looked to see Rosina, who was now completely taken back. She couldn't believe what she had just seen: Audrey actually managed to punch all the way through the watermelon. It just didn't seem possible to her. I mean, it didn't seem like Audrey was ever capable of doing something like that, considering her slim build. For Rosina, having muscles made all the difference. And yet, here her theory had just been blown to pieces.

"How...how is that possible?" blurted out Rosina, still surprised by what she just saw.

"Remember the saying 'never judge a book by it's cover'? Well this is a good example of that phrase," pointed out Audrey.

"But...but I...I," stuttered Rosina as she tried to process in her head both what she saw and Audrey's statement. Audrey simply took her stuttering as a victory in itself and proceeded to pick up the smashed watermelon and the other broken pieces and threw them into the garbage. Once that was done she wiped off her hands and walked out of the mess hall and back to the barracks. Leaving the still speechless, stunned, and frozen.

* * *

**Next one on the list is Father Adam Hendricks the chaplain of Squad 7, and the two Great War veterans Catherine O'Hara and Coby Caird. This one should be interesting. And fun too if you think about it.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	48. Father Hendricks, O'Hara, and Caird I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Father Hendrick's room_

Father Hendricks was given his own room in Squad 7's barracks. It would serve as both his personal quarters and where he would take confessions from members of the squad. It would help serve his purpose to the unit as their chaplain and make his job much more easier. In his room he put of a picture of Saint Mary, a few lit candles, places his cross necklace on his desk, and placed his Bible there as well. Though this room was far from a church, it was enough for it's current purposes. And at least for Father Hendricks it reminded him a bit of the St. Joan Cathedral where he used to work. It was these small personal details he did that made Father Hendricks feel much more at ease with his role as a Militia chaplain.

At least here in Randgriz he could practice the Christian faith more freely than the priests inside Germania. In the Nazi Reich, German Propaganda preached that the Nazi Royal Family were the descendants of God Almighty himself. However, this was by far their least successful piece of propaganda. And one that they didn't really use. The idea that this is what they believed in was just something that other nations created as their own propaganda against the Nazi Empire. In reality, the Germans didn't believe that their royals were descended by God. They in fact believed that God, and any other deity that humanity believed in, had abandoned Earth long ago. They claimed that man must put their faith in themselves, not absentee gods. But that didn't mean they outlawed religion within their empire. They allowed churches and other religious buildings to be constructed and for people to attend them. However, these religions had no real power in Germania aside from giving faith to the people. For Father Hendricks, if this was him he would be glad that he could at least preach to the local population.

Father Hendricks heard a knock on the door and looked to see Catherine O'Hara and Coby Caird standing in the doorway. Catherine spoke first and asked "You settling in okay Father?"

"I'm doing alright. Usually I'm the one who asks if there is something wrong," pointed out Hendricks. He then gestured with his hand for them to take a seat in the two chairs opposite of him next to the table. The two walked in and did just that.

"I have a question. Why did you become a chaplain here," asked a curious Coby Caird.

"A lot of soldiers in the military need strength in their faith and spirit. It's what helps drives an army to victory. I'm here to help this squad become more solid in their will. I'm also here to take confessions from anyone who wishes for me to," explained Father Hendricks. It was normal for him to receive such confessions. Thanks to the confidentiality of these confessions, it made people more willing to confess these things to a man of the cloth compared to anyone else. Talking to a priest helps give these people a sense of security that they're secrets would not see the light of day.

"Well that's good to know. I have the feeling that we're going to be making a whole lot of confessions before this war is over. Sure had to when we were fighting in the last war," said Catherine. She well knew how bad morale got at times during the Great War. It was common for Gallian soldiers most of all, since they were fighting for their lives against a foe that seemed just as unstoppable as it did today. And Catherine had seen a great many of her comrades go to talk to priests for comfort in those dark days.

Coby Caird said in a solemn voice "And I have a feeling that I'm going to be one of them."

Father Hendricks looked to him with a voice of concern and asked him sincerely "And why is that Coby? Do you have something that you wish to get off of your chest as well? If so I'm all ears."

Almost instantly, Coby looked away and his face showed a sense of regret in it. Quite possibly it was due to Father Hendrick's question reminding him of a terrible event that Hendrick's had asked him about. And what's more, it seemed evident that he was not in the mood to talk about it for without another word, he got up from his seat and left the room, even after Catherine grabbed his hand in an attempt to stop him. Coby simply shrugged it off and walked out of the room.

"Oh dear. I must have said something to hurt him didn't I?" asked Father Hendricks, felling somewhat guilty over what happened.

"Don't be. Some people just aren't as willing to open up as others?" clarified Catherine.

Father Hendricks nodded at her comment and then turned his attention over to Catherine. He asked her "I noticed by your accent that you're not from Gallia. Where are you from exactly?"

Catherine surprised him when she answered "I was actually born here. My parents were Irish immigrants that left Ireland near the turn of he century. They had the choice to either come here or to America. And apparently my father has a big case of seasickness so they opted for the shorter trip instead. I was born a few years later, making me an official Gallian citizen by default. When the Great War started I joined the Militia as a Sniper and served throughout it till the end. Now here I am doing the same thing almost twenty years later."

"Ah. Another Great War veteran. I assume you have some stories to tell? Both good and bad?" asked Father Hendricks, being intrigued. He now hoped that Catherine would be more willing to open up to him and share something that she would want to get off her chest. But to his surprise, she didn't say those exact words that he wanted to hear.

Catherine, averting her eyes from Father Hendricks, answered back in a soft voice "I'm sorry Father but...but I'd rather not talk about it. It's just too painful."

Catherine, just like Coby, proceeded to leave. But before she managed to even get out the door, Father Hendricks offered her a final say with words of wisdom. He told her "Some people believe that keeping things hidden inside means that they'll go away. But I've found that it's much better for one to just let it all out. No sense in keeping everything in your life all bottled up. I don't know how long this will take, but when you're ever ready to talk about it...my door is always open."

* * *

**Alright. Up next folks is Cherry Stijnen, Dallas Wyatt, and Ramona Linton. Stay strong everybody, I'm almost done with these Support Conversations.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	49. Cherry, Dallas, and Ramona I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Cherry and Dallas's Room_

In this room, Dallas and Cherry had invited in Ramona to try and spend a few hours together with just the three of them. Currently, they were playing a small game of poker with some money as stakes, and Ramona was winning by a landslide. Even though the Gallian Army had forbidden gambling among it's soldiers, it still didn't stop much of the Militia from doing it anyway. To these irregular soldiers, these games were a way to pass the time during the lull of fighting but also as a way to relieve stress about the war. For some, it helped keep their sanity together through all of the madness they were going into. But it also helped bring the soldiers together and helped them bond over the game. Besides, to many people, losing many people seemed to be both habit forming and relaxing. And for two of them, they were about to lose every bit of their money they currently had on the table.

And with a single group of cards, Ramona laid them down on the table to show nothing but Aces, a default win. With a triumphant laugh, Ramona grabbed the fifty Ducats on the table and cheered "Read em and weep girls. I've just become fifty Ducats richer and it isn't even payday yet."

"Aw man, I always lose these games!" cried Dallas as she threw her cards upon the table in frustration at her loss.

"Like, if you always lose they why did you play?" asked Cherry in her signature "like before the actual sentence" manor.

Instead of answering, Dallas simply folded her arms and pouted at her loss while Ramona simply put her winnings away. But what caught Cherry's attention was _what_ she was using to put her winnings away. It was a stylish little coin purse that she kept in her footlocker as a personal belonging. But the reason why is was so eye catching to her was because she recognized it in the latest issue of her favorite fashion magazine, _Gallian Girl_. It was the latest fashion accessory to hit the stores just before the war had broken out. It was also pretty pricey, going for a fee hundred Ducats, more than the average girl in Gallia could afford.

"Like, how did you get that Ramona?" asked a very excited Cherry, with Dallas looking at it as well.

Ramona simply put the purse back in her footlocker and answered "I got it as a gift. Before the war I was a model. After one of my runway shows, the company I worked for gave it to me for a job well done. I've had it ever since."

"Wow. That's amazing. All the girls in my boarding school would have killed for that purse. That was all they ever wanted," commented Dallas.

"You went to a boarding school?" asked Ramona, curious as to Dallas's statement.

Dallas nodded her head and answered back "It was an all girls boarding school. I've pretty much been there since I was little, aside from visiting my parents on holidays and the summer. It's in the part of Gallia that's now occupied by the Germans. I had to leave when they were getting close."

"Ha. No boys at your school? Well that explains why you just completely ignore the guys when they hit on you. You don't know when they're doing it," joked Ramona as she laughed along with Cherry. It was a common thing for them to see with Dallas. There were guys in both the Militia and the Regulars who would try and Dallas would simply brush them off without even knowing it. It seemed like she had no real experience in dealing with boys and their advances.

Dallas simply shrugged off the laughter and said with a smirk "Who said I got advances from only men?"

Her comment caused both Ramona and Cherry to instantly shut up. They felt like they had just made fools of themselves in front of Dallas. Judging from her comment, Dallas was more romantically interested in individuals of the fairer sex. No doubt this was brought on by her parents who had shipped her off to these all girl boarding schools. Neither Ramona nor Cherry didn't have any problems with that, but that didn't mean that there were other people who wouldn't be as understanding. In every Europan country, being a homosexual was against the law. If one was caught then they would face two choices: either they would spend a considerable amount of time in prison or be sent to a psychological ward and force fed medicine aimed to "cure" them but in reality just made them feel a hell of a lot worse. So for many homosexuals they had to keep it a secret and only tell it to a few select people that they trusted with such information. And apparently, Dallas wanted to share this information with Ramona and Cherry.

"Like...oh...I didn't know that," said Cherry, still a little surprised by Dallas's sudden reveal to them.

"It's not like we don't we have a problem with it or anything like that. It's just...a surprise you know?" added Ramona, trying to clear up the confusion that may have been brought up due to Cherry's comment.

"I know. I just thought you guys would like to know considering we were talking about people making advances on me," pointed out Dallas.

With a renewed smirk on her face, Ramona simply said "How about another game now? We can move on from this awkward stage and You two can have a chance to win back your money...or lose whatever you have left."

* * *

**Next up is Montley Leonard and Knute Jung.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	50. Montley and Knute I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Knute and Montley's bunk_

As with everyone in Squad 7 seemingly turning in to the barracks, Knute had already turned in before everyone else. He was busy arranging everything in his footlocker when in flying in through the door, came his bunk mate Montley who looked as if he ran all the way here. The young man was panting heavily, sweating very profusely, his hair, and uniform dampened by the sweat, and last but not least, was hunched over with his hands resting on his knee's for support. But for some reason, the same jackass smile he had on his face hadn't seem to fade away in the slightest.

"Why don't you try and slow down a bit there kiddo? No sense in rushing everything you so," suggested Knute as he looked at the ragged Montely.

In between his ragged breathing Montley managed to say "No one...ever got rich...by going slow. Time...is money."

Knute thought about that for a moment in his head. Noticing that there was a grain of truth in what the boy was saying, he replied "Okay, you have a point there I suppose."

Once Montley had managed to regain his breath, he looked over to what Montely and asked him "What exactly are you doing?"

"I'm putting my things away. My equipment, and some of the loot I took from the Germans in Vasel," explained Knute, with money signs gleaming in his eyes.

"Loot? I thought we weren't allowed to loot the Nazis," inquired Montley. Along with the "no gambling" policy, the Gallian military was very strict about it's soldiers not looting the enemy of things such as money, precious belongings, or things like memorabilia to sell on the black market. Armies had a long history of looting enemy forces and cities upon their victory and it was widely accepted in the past. But as times changed, armies began to be more strict about looting until by this time they had completely forbidden it. But as usual, there were people in military service who would find ways around the rule or simply ignore it altogether. The only army in the world that still did it was the Imperial Germanian Reich. They would authorize it under the name of affairs such as 'reclamation', or 'state authorized seizures of enemy property'. This resulted in large quantities of priceless valuables such as paintings, gold bars, and more to be plundered by the Nazis in their three millennium of military campaigns.

"People from the Darcsen Calamity to even the Great War have taken the valuables from their fallen enemies. Why should we be excluded from such a time honored tradition," pointed out Knute, still sorting out what he grabbed from the enemy. He had a good day in Vasel, and gained what he perceived to be very neat little goodies.

Curious as to what he had, Montley asked him curiously "What exactly did you find in Vasel?"

Knute wasted no time in explaining the various items he now had in his possession "I've got me some kraut currency, thirty Reichsmarks to be exact and a nice little pocket watch. I also got me some extra gear, including...this little beauty from one of the Emperor's dead officers."

Knute pulled out an almost pristine German officer's knife without it's sheathe. It's handle was jet black with a silver pommel and steel blade made of the finest metals. Emblazoned on the grip was the Nazi eagle clutching a swastika. These were the standard issue combat knives issued to commissioned officers from Lieutenants to Field Marshals and Admirals in all branches of the German Armed Forces. It was made to look more elaborate than the combat knives that were issued to the regular German infantry. These officer issued knives can also double as bayonets where as the other German infantry simply carried a bayonet along with their combat knife. It was a highly sought after item by looters in the Great War, and Knute had managed to get his hands on one in Vasel. He was so enamored by the craftsmanship that went into making this thing that he had no idea whether to keep it or sell it.

He turned to Montley to show him this treasure, but when he saw the young man his expression was nothing like what he had expected. Montley had his back against the wall, his knees were buckling, and his face was frozen in absolute horror. Knute was actually quite confused as to how this energetic, smiling kid had suddenly turned into a quivering, frightened one. As he tried to figure out the cause, he noticed that Montley's eyes were gazing directly at the looted German knife in his hands. Suddenly it all made sense to Knute: the kid was afraid of the knife.

"Look kid, I'm not going to hurt you with this thing. I just wanted to show you it," said Knute as he slowly placed the knife back into his footlocker and closed the lid shut. This managed to calm Montley down enough so that he wasn't clinging to the wall like a spider.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Montley admitted "Sorry about that. I just have this little fear of sharp and...very pointy things. Bad experience as a kid."

"You have a fear of pointy objects? Well it sucks for you to be in the Militia then, because one of these days we may be on the receiving end of a German bayonet charge," explained Knute as he laid out the downside of this particular fear during the present situation in Gallia.

"Yeah...lucky me," said a now despondent Montley.

* * *

**Up next on my now almost done list of support conversation is a quartet of people: Edy Nelson, Homer Peron, Jann Walker, and Walter Nash. After this one, I'll only have five left and then back to the story.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	51. Edy, Homer, Walter, and Jann I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Squad 7 Rec Room_

Cezary had left the room a little while after Nadine had once he had finished stripping down his rifle and cleaning it. Almost immediately after he had left, the quartet consisting of Edy, Homer, Walter, and Jann walked into the room. They had gathered around the radio and were trying to find something to listen, but so far they didn't have much luck in finding anything good on. Though three out of four of the group were just looking for someone to listen, one of them was getting quite irritated. And that particular person was Edy Nelson. With each passing station they skipped through, her patience began to wear very thin. Soon, after one too many radio stations, she finally snapped.

"WILL YOU JUST PICK SOMETHING ALREADY HOMER?!" she screeched to Homer as he turned the dials on the radio. Homer almost jumped a bit from the sudden outburst that came from Edy's mouth. The same could be said with Walter and Jann who were just as surprised. To stop her from yelling anymore, they simply had Homer stop at the next station they found, which coincidentally was the one that many of them had known. And as usual, it started with perhaps the worst news of the day.

**_"Good evening everyone. This is the BBC, broadcasting to you live from London, England. We bring you the latest in news, entertainment, sports, and more. We have several interesting stories tonight, but first we have some news coming from our offices in the Far East offices. The forces of the Empire of Japan continue their march into the Republic of China, cutting a bloody swath through the countryside and leaving death and destruction in their wake. However, Chinese forces who were once divided in the countries civil war, have managed to unite and launch several large scale counter attacks that have stopped the Japanese advance dead in their track. This is simply another reversal of fortune in the conflict that seems to have no end in sight."_**

"Huh, and here I thought we were the only war going on at the moment," joked Walter at the first bit of the news the BBC gave out. Aside from GBC radio, the BBC was one of the few radio stations available for the Gallians to listen to. The Germans had managed to capture most of the radio stations and each one was being used to blast Nazi propaganda from dawn to dusk. So Gallians stayed away from those stations and simply listened to the ones that were still under their control, even listening to a few radio stations from their neighboring countries France and Great Britain and Ireland, even having one station from all the way in the American state of Iceland. However, there were times they listened to the German broadcasts to see what it was that the Nazis were up to. It helped provide some good information once in a while.

"To me, I think these Japanese are just bullies. At least that's what they sound like on the radio. I can't imagine the pain those villagers are going through," mentioned Jann, voicing his opinion however dubious that it was.

"I wouldn't mind the pain. It tends to feel good after a while," commented Homer. The comment itself caused the other three to slowly turn their heads and look at him with a surprised and slightly creeped out look upon their faces. In just one line, this young boy had just turned from a sweet looking and innocent kid, to sounding like a complete and total masochist. It caused those around him to feel completely scared by his comment.

Edy seemed to return to normal and let out a sign before shaking her head and admitting "Oh Homer. So pretty yet so broken."

"Let's just see if there's anything else worthwhile to hear on the news," suggested Walter and everyone followed his suggestion and turned their attention back to the radio to listen to another news story from the BBC. This one referring to the previous war between the United States of America and the Soviet Union that had ended last year.

_**"In other news, the Soviet Union has finally paid the last of their two billion dollar war reparations to the United States. Premier Dimitri Novogod, who assumed the post last August after the capitulation of Joseph Stalin, announced that the reparations had nearly emptied the countries coffers. It seemed the scars of the Soviet-American War still run deep in the two nations with Russia feeling the worst of it. Anti-Bolshevik sympathy is now at an all time high ever since the Russian Civil War nearly a decade and a half ago. Add the poor state of their economy due to the war, things look grim for the Soviets."**_

"And I bet half of their losses was due to Jack," hypothesized Edy, remembering hearing of Jack's veteran war hero status. Though she and many others in Squad 7 still didn't trust Jack, it wasn't hard to admit that there were some in the unit who admired the skills of a soldier he had shown during the fighting in Vasel. Even if he may be a goddamn Nazi collaborator, they could not deny his skill with a gun when it was placed in his hand.

"Yeah. But right now I'm wondering when the music will come back on. At this rate I'd rather ask Rosie to sing for us," commented Jann, who at this rate was getting very bored. However, he was soon about to regret bringing up Rosie's name into this conversation. Ever since she and Edy met, Edy had developed a sort of one sided rivalry with the woman that seemed to reappear anytime that the very mention of her name was brought up into the conversation. And right now, she looked like she was on the very verge of blowing her top any second now. Walter and Jann noticed this and decided it was best to stop talking. However, Homer didn't get the same picture as they did.

And out of his mouth came the words he would soon regret "I actually would like to hear Miss Rosie's singing. I hear it's pretty good."

"HOMER!" screeched the now very pissed off Edy as she tackled Homer to the ground and proceeded to beat the crap out of him with Jann and Walter working to separate the angry Edy from Homer. As they did this, they managed to catch the final announcement on the BBC before it took a short intermission.

_**"And with this story we'll be gone for a short intermission. When we come back, we've got a story that will interest you greatly. This story comes all the way from mainland Europe, in the war between the Principality of Gallia and the Imperial Germanian Reich. As the nation is faced with it's most dire hours, it appears that their saviors will come through it's common Militia. Up next we'll talk about the heroic actions of one Gallian Militia platoon who has caught our attention: The Gallian Militia's Squad 7 of the 3rd Regiment."**_

* * *

**Next up on my dwindling list that is nearing the end is Susie Evans and Noce Wordsworth, Alicia's two childhood friends. Hold on tight my fellow readers, because now there are only five of this first batch of support conversations before we all get back to the main story.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	52. Susie and Noce I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Alicia and Susie's bunk_

"It just seems crazy how the three of us ended up in the same unit," remarked Noce as he expressed his point of view to Alicia and Susie. The three good friends had managed to find a quiet spot where they could talk for the first time since the Battle of Vasel. It was a nice bit of time for the three of them to catch up with each as they hadn't seen each other for almost a month in between their enlistment in the Militia and their assignment to Squad 7. Almost immediately, the three of them were talking over life before the war and how crazy their lives were now that they were fighting in it. From all the laughing, the smiles, and the joyful feeling in the air it almost felt like old times.

"Yeah, it does seem crazy. Even crazier still considering what we used to be before the war. I mean, we aren't exactly soldiers," pointed out Alicia. It was however a true statement, when you put the three of them together, they never quite fit the bill for a soldier in the Gallian Regular Army. But then again, this was the Militia they were in. In the Militia, almost anyone could join them. Anyone from the lowest of commoners to a nobleman was eligible to enlist or be drafted into the Militia regardless of religion, sex, or race. In short, one large band of misfits.

"I still wish I could have been assigned to some quiet post. I just don't think that I can really kill anyone," claimed Susie, her voice wavering under the thought of killing a German soldier. It was well known to Noce and Alicia that Susie was a staunch pacifist in both practice and at heart. The Militia seemed quite an odd place for a pacifist to be in as the rule of war is 'either kill or be killed'. And there was little very little chance that the Germans would believe she was a pacifist when if she was captured by them. They would assume that she was lying and would simply execute her on the spot.

"If you didn't want to kill anyone than why did you volunteer Susie? Surely you could have done much more to help by working in a field hospital or a refugee center. So why even bother joining the Militia if you don't want to fight," inquired a curious Alicia.

Susie simply twirled her curly hair around her finger before explaining "I guess it was just to make my father proud I suppose. I'm a Duke's daughter remember? Plus I wanted to be with my friends. I suppose that was another reason too."

It did make some sense to both Alicia and Noce. Susie's family, the Evans, were a proud noble family that had a long and prestigious line in Gallia's aristocracy. Many of them have served time in either the Regular Army or the Militia. Susie most likely joined just to make her father proud of her.

"Well we all know why Alicia joined. I guess your reason is just as good as any," commented Noce as he thought it through.

"What about you Noce? Why did you join?' asked Alicia. Since they were all on the conversation about their reasons for enlisting, she was curious as to know why Noce had enlisted. Aside from Susie, she was one of her closest friends. The three of them met when they were small children and they quickly established a close friendship that has endured throughout the years. The three of them did everything together, got into trouble together, and when they were old enough they joined the town watch together. And now it seemed like they were going to be fighting in this war together as well. At the very least, they could all tell each other why they were here.

Noce calmly answered "Hey, where you girls go, I go. We're like the three musketeers. 'All for one and one for all'. That's how it goes for us."

Alicia chucked a bit at his _The Three Musketeer's_ reference. Noce always had a love for literature and poetry. It was funny how his last name, Wordsworth, so accurately reflected upon how he expressed things through literature. He loved books so much that Alicia used to nickname him 'Shakespeare' just to annoy him which it already did. And there have been famous writers in history who went to war and managed to publish some good works. Maybe Noce was looking to add himself to that list. But first he would have to survive this god forsaken war before that could happen.

"Yeah well, do you suppose we'll be able to win this war? I mean actually win it?" inquired Noce, as their current situation wandered into his mind. Their joining the Militia would make little difference if the Germans win the war by the end of the month. And quite frankly, he didn't want to end up either dead or in a Nazi occupied country.

Alicia simply sighed before answering "Honestly, I don't know. We'll just have to see how this goes. But if we keep doing what we did at Vasel, we may just come out on top."

"That's...going to be a tall order," commented Susie, summing up the task that was laid out before them. With the current strength of the German presence in Gallia, it was going to be a long fought and bloody struggle that would only end with either the Gallians pushing the Nazi Empire back across their borders...or with the Nazis once again establishing total dominance over Gallia once more, and this time for good. This...was going to be one hell of a war for Gallia.

* * *

**Only four more left folks. Up next is war veteran Musaad Mayfield, the mysoginist Nils Daerdan, and the lazy bum Herbert Nielson. Oh this should be good.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	53. Musaad, Nils, and Herbert I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Just outside Squad 7's Barracks_

After an arduous training session, Nils and Musaad were making their way back to the barracks. Almost after they had returned from Vasel, they set about to help work on their marksmanship, endurance, and their stamina through several various series of rigorous exercises. Aside from the female duo Rosina and Nina, these two were the biggest exercise men in the squad. It seemed that in the short while that they've known each other that they've become quite close friends though their exercise sessions.

"You've gotten better with that Lance of yours. I swear you're like some kind of sniper when it comes to that thing," praised Musaad about Nil's skills and accuracy with his AT Lance.

"Look who's talking. You're a pretty good shot with a rifle. Better than most of the recruits I've seen," replied Nils.

"I had a lot of damn practice. I fought in the last war," explained Musaad. Musaad fought in the Gallian Militia against the Germans when they invaded Gallia in the Great War almost twenty years ago. His unit served at the Naggiar plains, one of the most vicious hellholes in the conflict. Over the four years of the fighting, hundreds of thousands of Gallians and Germans were killed in the bloody stalemate that raged over the course of the war. This in turn had turned the plains into the hellish and barren landscape it has become which is second only to the sands of the Barious Desert. It's from this place that Musaad honed his skills as a Scout by using his rifle to help his comrades repel the constant charges by the Nazis across No Man's Land in an attempt to seize control of the Gallian trenches. It didn't turn him into a Sniper Class soldier, but it was enough to make him an excellent marksman for a Scout.

"Yeah, well, my practice came on the streets of Rangdriz. Fighting I mean, not the Lance," commented Nils.

"Oh really? How is that?" inquired Musaad.

Nils simply answered him "I was part of a street gang before the war. Name of the gang was Deadly Sins."

In Randgriz, street gangs were pretty common in some of the slums of Gallia's capital city. Each was about the size of about twenty or thirty men and women and each one owned their own stake of the slums. There would often be brawls between rival gangs for territory that usually resulted in injuries on both sides, and sometimes casualties if some brought weapons. People who grew up in this kind of environment usually became tough as nails when it came to fighting, and Nils was a prime example of that. If someone could live through that kind of place throughout their whole life, then they're either crazy or one tough son of a bitch. Given that it's Nils, it was most likely the later with him. And that made him perfect as a Lancer for Squad 7.

As they made came near the door, they eyed a particular individual in Squad 7 whom many didn't seem to like at all: the lazy Engineer Herbert Nielson, lying in a chair and snoring. This guy was someone that you hoped would never get assigned to your unit. For this guys was perhaps the most unmotivated man in the whole world. The only time this guys actually got off his butt to do something is when the Germans were actually shooting at him. At least when it came to the fighting he did his part. But other than that, he was just as useless as a soldier armed with a toy gun. The guy never seemed to listen to any of the orders that Welkin gave, instead listening to only Jack whom he was eternally scared of after what happened between the two of them back at the farmstead. People were starting to get tired by this guy's stubborn refusal to do anything just because he 'didn't feel like doing it at the moment', especially Nils and Musaad. If this guy wasn't going to do anything willingly, then they were going to force him by any means necessary.

With anger in their step, they stomped over to Herbert, grabbed him by the jacket, and threw him out of the chair. Herbert woke up once his body made hard contact with the dirt ground. And with a groan, he complained "What the hell was that for?"

"That was to wake you and get that sorry ass of your up and doing something for once in your life," bellowed Nils, with venom in his words.

"Yeah, If you want to sleep, why don't you do it after you've actually done some work like the rest of us?" added an angry Musaad.

"Aw, come on guys. I've done my share during the fighting haven't I?" complained Herbert as he picked himself up and dusted off his uniform.

Musaad however countered "I mean when we're _off_ the battlefield you don't do a damn thing except sitting on your ass, sleep, and eat while we work our backs off. And we're all tired of it. Either you start working or else."

"Or else what?" inquired Herbert, wondering where this conversation was going. He got his answer when Nils and Musaad grabbed his jacket and began dragging him against his will towards the door to the barracks.

"Or else we're going to do something about it. If words won't help you, then we'll persuade you through violence," answered Nils as they dragged Herbert inside.

* * *

**Three to go. Next up is perfectionist Mica Hawkins, Ramsey Clement, and explosives lover Wendy Cheslock.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	54. Mica, Ramsey, and Wendy I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Now demolished Squad 7 Supply Room_

After Claudia nearly killed herself and Jack with the grenade and destroyed the supply room, they were now recuperating from their near death experience. Welkin had ordered Ramsey, Mica, and Wendy to clean up the supply room and try and fix it if possible. Mica was scrubbing the burnt areas on the ground where the grenade exploded. He was scrubbing furiously as he wanted to get every little bit out. Meanwhile, Ramsey and Wendy were in charge of picking up the broken pieces of equipment as well as relocating the ones still intact to a more secure room until this one could be rebuilt. And from the look of the damage, it would be a while till they had this place ready again.

"You know if you scrub any harder you might just be able to cut through the floor," commented Ramsey, seeing how hard Mica was scrubbing the floor.

"I'm just trying to do a good job. The Lieutenant said to 'scrub the floor clean'. I intend for this to be perfect," explained Mica as he continued to scrub, not even pausing to look at Ramsey.

"Why? You think the Lieutenant's going to give you a good conduct award for scrubbing?" asked Ramsey in a cynical tone as she picked up charred pieces of the wall that fell of in the blast.

Mica simply paused for a moment to look at her and say sarcastically "Ha, ha. Very funny."

"I'm serious. You try to make everything's so perfect that it's damn near impossible to achieve. Can't you just settle for good enough?" inquired Ramsey, getting right to the topic of her question.

"Because to me, nothing is good unless it's impossible to make better. That's what perfection is about. So I'm going to scrub this floor until there's not a single smear, smudge, or explosive stain on it. Now would you kindly leave me to it in piece then? This floor isn't going to clean by itself," explained Mica, a little annoyed at how he has to explain himself to her. Ramsey simply scoffed at his comment and paid no heed after that.

Suddenly, Mica's eyes were looking at Wendy, who was stuffing grenades into her satchel, and doing it with a big grin upon her head. It seemed that Ramsey had noticed what Wendy was doing as well since she had also stopped what she was doing. Almost giddy as a schoolgirl, Wendy was taking anything capable of blowing up and stuffing it into her satchel. The look on her face when she did it was almost kind of scary considering the items she was handling. As soon as she hand finished stuffing her satchel to the brim, she turned to leave but was quite surprised by the surprised yet also frightened look on her comrades faces.

"What?" asked Wendy, oblivious as to the reason why they had that look on their faces.

"Um, are you trying to be the second person to blow up this room?" questioned a gravely concerned Mica as he hoped that Wendy wouldn't do anything stupid with her explosives filled bag.

"No. But boy do I wish that I could have been there to see it! The fireball, the deafening blast. It's like a symphony to me!" cried Wendy as she jumped a bit at the thought of seeing the previous explosion that happened here. The feeling however was not mutual among her two cohorts.

"You wanted to see the explosion? Do you have some kind of death wish or something here?" inquired Mica, wondering if she was serious.

"I love explosions! That's why I'm taking all of this with me! It's to help me refine my recipe for my 'Cheslock Special' explosive," screamed Wendy as she jumped up and down repeated like a giddy little schoolgirl on a sugar rush. To her, making explosives and watching them go off must be how she got her high of some kind. It was somewhat disturbing to see her act this way, as well as fighting too.

"A 'Cheslock Special'? Why do I have the feeling that it's not a good thing for me?" wondered Ramsey, noting the phrase specifically in her sentence.

With a nod, Wendy answered with "Yep. My own special concoction of Ragnite, gunpowder, and certain other materials. I just need to get the mixture right and I'll be blowing shit to kingdom come in no time. Though considering the explosion here, it's pretty obvious I didn't fix the grenades right."

"Fix the grenades? These were part of your experiments? Are you insane?! Jack and Claudia almost got blown to bits!" Shouted an outraged Mica as the idea that the explosion was Wendy's fault slowly began to sink in. Wendy, almost unmoved by his angry words, gestured with her pointer finger and her thumb in an almost pinching like gesture that said 'a little bit'. _Well at least the woman admits that she's crazy_, thought Mica as he simply chose to ignore her and went back to scrubbing the floor. Without anything else to comment, Wendy simply bolted out of the supply room giggling like an idiot as she left to make her little bomb.

"I feel like that woman keeps a bomb under that wool cap of hers," warned Ramsey as she also went back to work.

Mica could simply nod his head before adding "Amen to that. I don't feel safe when I'm with that woman. She's more liable to blow us up than the enemy. Or maybe it's the other way around."

* * *

**Only two left. Up next is wannabe hero Theold Bohr and granny Yoko Martens.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	55. Theold and Yoko I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Yoko's bunk room_

"Ow! Dammit I hate this stuff! Whoever invented Iodine is an idiot!" shouted Jack as Yoko gently applied the iodine and Ragnaid soaked rag over the small cuts he got after his near death experience with Claudia nearly killing them both with a hand grenade. He was lucky that he had quick reflexes or else both he and Claudia would have ended up as stains on the wall. I suppose that all had to do with Jack's many experiences with nearly being killed. Seemed that he's had so much time avoiding bullets and explosions that it seemed to be quite quick on his feet in these situations. But even though he managed to save himself from very serious injuries, he still managed to get various cuts and bruises all over his body. And if there was one thing he hated more then these cuts, was the stinging Iodine used to treat it.

"Oh, stop complaining. At least you're still alive kid," noted Yoko as she continued to tend to those cuts.

Jack however spoke up and said "I don't need help. It's just a bunch of cuts. I get these all the time."

"Well we can't have your damn cuts get infected. If that happens, then you're no good to any of us," commented Yoko as she finished off with the Iodine rag. By now all he needed was just some rest and wait for that Iodine to do it's magic and keep himself from getting any more hurt than he already was.

"You know, I'm not one for admitting this but you're one tough Yankee," praised Theold, stepping into the room. As usual he had just fixed his hair with way to much hair gel and now he looked just like some punk Jack saw in the movies. In fact, he saw more of guys like him on the streets of New York. These were mainly kid's Jack's age who would drive up on their motorcycles and act like a bunch of tough guys. But the only tough thing these guys did was just to mainly piss off every man and woman they came across and flirt with every girl possible. He had never really managed to talk to Theold much, but from what he looked like, he simply seemed like those boys from back home.

"Done playing hero and decided to grow up yet? Because I think you actually praised someone other than yourself," asked Yoko with some scorning in her voice.

"Well at least I have a list of things that I can do things faster than you at your age. And that list is a long one," said Theold as he shot her that snide remark. Yoko rolled her eyes in disgust as she put away the rag. Jack, feeling that he had no real purpose in this conversation decided that it was time for him to leave. He got up to leave but before he even made it through the door Theold stepped in front of him and blocked Jack from going any further. Whatever reason he did this for, it was quite clear that there was something that Theold wanted to talk to Jack about before he left.

Theold got to the point and asked him "How exactly did you become a hero anyway Yankee?"

"I killed a lot of Russians at Anchorage and the media just slapped me with the title "Hero of Anchorage". That's pretty much the whole story anyway. If you want more, read my biography," explained Jack, wondering what on earth was the point of being asked that question. He had heard that question a whole bunch of times and each one just asked in a very different manor. Some that asked him were reporters, some were veterans who had heard of his reputation and wanted to know something about him, or just some fan of his he passed by on the street who also wanted his autograph. Now here he was, halfway around the world, being asked the same question by some other guy and now he had to answer that question it yet again.

Theold simply raised an eyebrow and asked bluntly "Just like that? All you did was kill a bunch of enemy soldiers? That was all that you had to do?"

"Why the sudden interest in my life story? I know you want to be a hero but why ask me the question?" inquired Jack, clearly curious about all the questions about himself.

"I figured that if I'm going to be a hero, what better way to learn than from an actual hero himself: you," explained Theold, pointing at Jack with his final words.

"Seriously, just yesterday you and the rest of the unit were calling him a Nazi sympathizer," exclaimed Yoko, appalled by what she had just heard come out of Theold's mouth. He had gone from pointing the finger at Jack to suddenly kissing up to him for answers.

"Aw shut it granny, you were too. Look what I'm asking is can you teach me how to be a hero?" pleaded Theold after he said his comeback to Yoko. He had hoped that at least Jack would consider it as a possibility. I mean sure he may have joined in with the rest of the squad yesterday in calling Jack a Nazi sympathizer, that was true. But on the other hand he wanted to be a hero, and if he was going to be able to do that, he needed help. Since he wasn't going to ask any _Gallian_ in their unit for help, he'd settle for the Yankee.

"If I say yes will you let me leave?" asked Jack, hoping that this conversation ends soon. And Theold simply nodded his head in approval which helped direct Jack's next answer.

"Fine, then yes. Goodbye," said Jack bluntly as he just pushed his way past Theold, now sick to death of this conversation and looking to be somewhere else entirely and away from Theold.

* * *

**One left folks. Next up is Lancer Elysse Moore and former Town Watch Captain Hector Calvey.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	56. Elysse and Hector I

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Squad 7's very temporary Supply Room_

As Wendy, Mica, and Ramsey were fixing up the Supply Room, Elysse and Hector were helping them move whatever salvageable supplies over to another room which they'll use as their temporary Supply Room until their main one is fixed up. Hector had already moved the bulk of their supplies and it had only been twenty minutes. Elysse however was a different story. Unlike Hector, she took a while to build up steam, the full twenty minutes that Hector was bringing loads of supplies from each run. Now that Elysse was at the same pace as Hector she was now carrying the same amount as him. But by this time, there wasn't much left so she simply got a few crates and boxes to carry with relative ease.

"No offense but it took you long enough," commented Hector as he closed the door to the Supply Room once he and Elysse made sure everything was inside.

"Hey, sorry. It just takes me a while to build up and make an effort. But when I do, you will be amazed at what I can do," stated Elysse.

Curious about a certain subject, Hector asked her bluntly "Why exactly did you volunteer for the Militia anyway? You seem more laid back than most of the people there."

"I guess you can say it was my father. He's a fencing instructor for the nobility. He said that joining the Militia should help improve my psyche," explained Elysse as honestly as she could.

Her father was more than just an instructor, he was a world renowned one. He taught members almost every royal family within Europa in his day. And he even taught at military academies on hand to hand combat with bayonets, knives, and swords. He retired sometime before the Great War began since armies began to stop using bladed weapons such as swords in replacement for bayonets. However, a decade after the war was over he was called back to help instruct classes to military cadets on sword combat once more. Despite the stalemate caused by trench warfare in the Great War, there were still many instances of hand to hand combat in the trenches. This showed nations that there was still a need to arm soldiers for close-quarter combat. Now, armies are beginning to have their troops be rearmed with swords, cutlasses specifically, in order to make sure their soldiers are well prepared for this situation. In fact, most armies had taken steps for that immediately. The German Army had several infantry divisions rearmed with cutlasses before the invasion and a few more since it started. And America had most of it's units reequipped by the time the Soviet-American War began. However Gallia had very little of it's military equipped with swords, and only started when the invasion had begun. Now they were rapidly trying to meet the demands for cutlasses for front line troops.

"Fencing instructor eh? My grandpa had a sword he kept from his time in the service. He left it to me after he died. We had to bring it with us when we had to leave Liege," commented Hector.

"Liege? That the fortress town?" asked Elysse, the name of the town ringing a bell.

Hector nodded his head and replied "Yeah. The town's practically built into a ring of fortresses. My town was one of the first places hit in both this war and the Great War before that. No matter how much we try, we can't seem to keep the Nazis out."

"Did you say 'we'? What did you do when the Nazis came?" asked a curious Elysse.

"I was the head of the Town Watch. A few others and I managed to come together and route a German patrol...that is before they brought in the Panzers, the artillery, and the Stukas," explained Hector, his face turning a little somber about the memories coming back. It was apparent to Elysse that there was something more to this than Hector was letting on. Perhaps something happened back at Liege that he wasn't truly ready to let out. Something painful.

"Hector? Are you alright?" asked a concerned Elysse, wanting to know if there was something that he wanted to get off of his chest. If there was something wrong, she wanted to know if there was anything possible for her to help with. And if not, maybe she could take him to Father Hendricks and he can talk to him about his problems if he agreed to it.

"Thanks but no. It's something that I'd rather deal with on my own," explained Hector before he walked away from Elysse without saying another word. And as he walked away, Elysse simply thought to herself that maybe she needed to help him get over what had happened to him. She would help him get through this not as a fellow Militia soldier, but as a friend. And she would do it if it was the last thing she ever did in this life. She was however, hopeful that it wouldn't come to that at all in the very end.

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**And that's it folks. this is the end of my first whole round of support conversations. Now that this is over I can get back to the actual story. But when I do put in support conversations I'll only have them in two or three at a time. Until then, it's back to the story. It may take a while until it's up so just be patient.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	57. Radio Broadcast and the Arrest

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Squad 7 Barracks_

_2122 hours (11:22 pm)_

After they managed to calm down after their long few days of battle, Squad 7 had all gathered in the Rec Room for a few final minutes of relaxation before they would turn in for the night. Each were relaxing in their own ways before lights out. Father Hendricks was reading a few verses from the bible, Jack was writing a letter to his family back in New York City, Edy and Homer were listening to the BBC radio channel for when they would issue that story on Squad 7, Largo and Rosie were discussing about recent events, and much more with everyone else. Things were still tense in Squad 7 with recent developments such as Jack's connections to the Nazi Empire revealed, the devastating air raid on Randgriz today, and quite possibly the long road ahead of them if they sought to help Gallia win the war which seemed to be going against them a dozen different ways each day. Things were just going to get worse by the minute from now on. Welkin, walking into the room with Alicia, were talking about a recent development that they had just heard recently from Lucina, when they were greeted by Largo who spoke out "Attention! Officer on deck!"

Almost immediately, everyone stood on their feet, turned to Welkin and gave him a military salute. It almost took Welkin aback by how they all so casually just did that. It wasn't exactly something that he was used to, people saluting him that is. Looks like he'll have to get used to it over the course of this war. Either way, he simply gave them a salute back and replied "At ease."

After wards, everyone simply sat back down and returned to their business after they were relieved. But just as they had returned to their activities, out came a voice from Edy that got all of Squad 7's attention. While Homer fiddled with the radio dials, Edy looked to everyone in the room and shouted "Everyone quiet! You guys have to listen to this!"

Instantly, everyone got interested in what it was Edy was talking about. Curious about what she was talking about, they all started walking over to Edy and Homer, crowding around the radio they had been listening for hours. Apparently there was definitely something important that they wanted to tell them about, though only few in the Squad knew precisely what she meant however. It wasn't until Alistair Koller came into the room that they had a clue as to what's going on. As Koller took his place among the crowd, he looked to Homer and asked "What did I miss?"

"Nothing yet. It's almost on," replied Homer.

"What's going on here?" asked Welkin, curious as to what it was the two of them were talking about.

Alistair simply grinned and announced "Before I sent my story on you guys to the New York Times, I sent to it a few connections I had in Europa. People are broadcasting my words on the radio, and upon the papers. I promised that your names and deeds would be heard, and this is my way of delivering my promise."

"You're saying that the BBC is going to tell a piece about us? Like right now?" asked Rosie, truly surprised by what she just heard. She had heard how far reaching Alistair's words were from Jack, but she never truly expected to hear anything about Squad 7 so quickly after their first few fights. This was going to be an enjoyable thing for her to hear very much indeed.

"Oh yes, Now listen up and listen good. These are my words you're listening to...more or less," said Koller as the opening tune of the BBC came back on, signaling the beginning of the news segment that they were waiting for.

_**"We now return to the BBC, bringing you today's top story before the program ends. For the past month, there has been a war waging not far from our shores. In the Principality of Gallia, the forces of the Gallian Regulars and the Gallian Militia valiantly fight against hordes of ruthless and bloodthirsty soldiers from the Imperial Germanian Reich. A month ago, Germania launched it's invasion of the small country, hoping to reclaim their former province that they lost over a century ago. With intense attacks from land, air, and sea they have severally crippled the Gallian military and seized over half of the country in their Blitzkrieg offensive into the country. With the Gallian forces in retreat ever since the beginning of the conflict, defeat seemed certain. But however, things seem to be beginning to change due to an extraordinary group of soldiers, from an almost unlikely place."**_

"I'm like where this is going so far. But let's wait and see what else he says," commented Largo.

"Oh trust me, you're going to love this," added Koller.

_**"A few days ago, German forces seized the strategic town of Vasel. With the Great Vasel drawbridge under their control they would have had a straight shot at the capital city of Randgriz. However, the Nazis confidence in their victory would in the end prove to be the very undoing. Not a moment after the Germans seized Vasel, a strike force of Gallian Regulars and Militiamen launched a counter-attack against them in an effort to retake the city back. Against an enemy force superior in manpower, armor, and weaponry these brave men and women in blue overcame all odds and pushed the Germans out of Vasel, and therefor saving their capital in the process. But one unit among the Gallian strike force stood out from the rest in their contributions to their almost unlikely victory."**_

"Here it comes everyone. You're all going to love this," said Koller, with a big grin upon his face as the moment they all had been waiting for had arrived at last.

_**"This unit belongs not to the Gallian Regulars, but to the forces of the common Gallian Militia. These are the men and women of a unit known as Squad 7, a platoon strength unit who are part of the Militia's 3rd Regiment. These men and women, people from all walks of life from bakers, war veterans, foreign volunteers, students, farmers, and more united by a common cause to see their home remain free from the iron grip of Kaiser Byzantium zi Britannia, the 99th ruler of the Nazi Empire. The militiamen in this unit are led by Lieutenant Welkin Gunther, the son of the late General Belgen Gunther, Gallia's Hero and Savior who lead the defense of Gallia during the Great War. The young Lieutenant, though inexperienced in the ways of war, manged to outwit the German forces several times and lead his unit to defeat an enemy force numbering a thousand strong with Panzer support with no casualties at all. A rare feat indeed when one is fighting against the forces of the Wehrmacht."**_

Jack scoffed and said "More like 'lucky'. Those guys don'y go down without one hell of a fight."

"You of all people here would know wouldn't you?" insulted Alicia.

"Oh for Christ's sake I'm not a Nazi sympathizer!" defended Jack, now getting very sick and tired of hearing that line. Once was a nuisance, twice was annoying, but now it was just getting on his nerves. If he heard one more person on this goddamned country call him a Nazi sympathizer one more time he was going to take out one of his Colt 1911 pistol's and shoot them where they stood. Before this argument could continue any further, the BBC announcer continued on with his story about Squad 7.

_**"This unit executed a daring and almost unprecedented strategy that made their appearance on the battlefield known. Using a marvel of armored engineering named the Edelweiss, a tank designed by the late Darcsen Theimer himself, they used their tank to cross the river to clear the way for the remainder of their unit to row across the river under the cover of night. And after infiltrating the enemy held town, they took control of the room operating the Great Vasel Bridge and sent a battalion of German forces into the river below, giving the Gallian forces what they needed the much desired victory they had been looking for."**_

"You bet your ass we were. This is the first good thing I've heard people say about the war since it started," noted Largo.

"No kidding. All I've ever heard was people saying that 'Gallia is doomed' and 'German expansion unavoidable'. The same dredge over and over and over. Believe me when I say that it gets incredibly old and boring really fast," complained Cezary, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, this one nice change of pace to what we usually hear," added Catherine.

With a huge grin upon his face, Koller set about revealing the 'piece de resistance' of the story. He said "Oh but it gets better. Listen to this part. Especially you Lieutenant Gunther. You may enjoy this."

_**"Veteran New York Times war reporter Alistair Koller, who has been covering the Gallian-Germanian War since the conflict began in mid-March, has recently been assigned to the 7th Platoon to report on their activities. In his duty, he has given us a special treat: words from the 7th Platoon's commanding officer in a fiery speech he delivered before the battle to fire up his soldiers and unite them."**_

Welkin was completely surprised by what the announcer had just said. He knew that Koller had made a recording of his speech but he never dreamed that he would have done much with it and he never really expected that Koller would have it to be broadcast for the entire world to hear. Welkin simply assumed that his words would simply wander in obscurity, only remembered by those who were there when they were spoken. Never in his mind did he feel like this would happen with his speech. Still in shock, he looked to Koller and asked "You gave them the recording of my speech?"

Koller simply shrugged and admitted "I figured it was gold. You wanted me to help get support for Gallia and her cause, and what better way to do that than a patriotic speech from the commander of a squad of up and coming heroes like you lads? Plus I may have tweaked with the recording just a bit."

"Um, What do you mean by 'a little tweaking' Koller?" inquired Jack, as he knew full well about Koller and his ways of expression America's First Amendment of the Bill of Rights: the Freedom of Speech. And he had a way of tweaking with things every once and a while.

"Just some small little tweaks here and there. I left everything major in it. I just changed a few little words...and omitted a few. Nothing personal," defended Koller, feeling he was in the right. He was a journalist after all, this was his job...somewhat.

_**"And here are the words of Lieutenant Welkin Gunther's speech that he delivered to his men before the battle.**_

_**(Welkin's voice)**_

_**Look. I know that none of you think much of me. You don't think I'm old enough or have the experience to lead you. But know this, I'm here for the same reason as you: to protect Gallia. We've already beaten the Germans three times already. Though these victories seem small, each one is a building block for a greater victory in the making. And hey, look at us. We aren't doing to badly for a band of misfits.**_

_**We're going to fight. And we're going to keep fighting because that's all that we can do now. None of us had much of a choice. We didn't ask for this war, to be invaded. It was forced on us. Forced by a man who would see all of Europa under his rule if he could. But what they don't know is that when you're fighting in your own backyard, when your fighting for your family. The actual fighting hurts a little less. And it all makes a little more sense. Because for them, this is just some place. A piece of land they can conquer and claim as their own. But for us, this is different. For us, this is our home. It's where we were born, where we grew up, and where we'll raise our families. Our enemy would take that all away from us. Take away everything we hold dear.**_

_**The enemy we fight isn't one nation, one nationality, or one person. Our enemy is an ideology. One that millions of people across Europa, even from around the world have embraced. One where the strong stand tall and prosper while everyone left is oppressed or butchered. And I know that none of you will want to live underneath people like them. Our families, along with all of Gallia are watching us now. And not just them, every nation in Europa and the world is watching us as well. What do you suppose they'll see? A tiny nation struggling to survive? No. What they'll see are free men and woman, standing side by side against a tyrant. And what our enemy will see is the flash of our guns. They will hear our battle cries and they will see what Gallians can do. We will remind this nation and the world that the Nazi Empire is not invincible. That they can be defied. That there are those who would rather die on their feet than live on their knees. There is a fire that burns in everyone of us. And I see that fire alive and well in each one of you. Every second that fire burns, is a message that freedom won't die easily. Here in Gallia we'll make our stand. Here we will show our enemy true defiance. And here, as we fight our enemy, we will yell in their faces "This is Gallian land. And if you want it, you'll have to pay for it with blood!"**_

_**(Announcer's voice)**_

**_Listening to those words, I can honestly tell you that if I were in that unit I would be just as fired up and motivated as they did when they heard it. And I'm sure that each of you would feel the same way if you were in their position."_**

Now everyone in the room was stunned. Just from listening they realize that the speech is exactly the same as the one Welkin gave them. There's nothing different about it, not a single word has been altered or deleted. Koller had lied to them and left the speech exactly as it was. It was just simply amazing to them all, even more to Welkin who had looked at Koller and asked curiously "I thought you said that you tweaked my speech a bit. This sounds just like what I said at Vasel. How do you explain that?"

"Simple: I lied. I listened to the speech again and I figured it would be much more inspirational if I just left it as it was. People like it better that way and it helps drive the point home," explained Koller, outlying his reasons for doing what he did which in turn were actually pretty good reasons. Even so, the squad still looked at him, bewildered that he had just flat out told a lie to him about something like this. Isara, one of the most surprised out of the group, peaked her head through the crowd to ask him "Then why did you lie and say that you changed it?"

Koller chuckled at her question before answering honestly "What, a journalist can't have a little bit of fun once and while? Come on, lighten up guys."

"I will cause I know you. However, I can't say the same for everyone else," said Jack.

_**"Folks, I knew Belgen Gunther when he was alive. And if he's watching us somewhere up in Heaven, you can bet your ass that he's damn proud of his kid. And with this final message, we'll sign off for tonight. After this news was broadcast in America, many voices called out on Capitol Hill for a greater involvement in the war. Despite America's Congress still holding firm on their declaration of neutrality in the conflict, it appears that this victory has helped to change many minds. We'll be keeping our ears open for more news regarding the war and of the exploits of Squad 7 as time goes on. Until then, goodnight. And to you Gallian boys and girls in Squad 7 serving on the front line: Stay safe, and good luck. This is the BBC, signing off."**_

The squad let out a might cheer as the station signed off. That was the most praise they, or anyone in the Militia had gotten since this blasted war started. It was nice to hear someone appreciate and acknowledge their efforts instead of belittling them like Gallian High Command did. And as an added bonus, their victory has managed to have an impact in the United States. It seemed that people were inspired by Gallia's will to resist the Nazi invasion of their homeland. They were actually speaking out that they should be helping a small country like Gallia instead of just standing on the sidelines as people die on both sides of this conflict. For them, it would be the best day of the war when they hear that the United States has arrived to help with the fighting.

"I told you I can draw sympathy for the war. Now what do you think of this? Have I delivered on my promise?" inquired Koller with a little bounce in his step.

"Well I'll say you sure delivered," agreed Alicia. Even as the squad cheered, Welkin's mind seemed to be drawn elsewhere. He left the crowd and sat in one of the chairs, reading over a letter that Lucina had just given him before he ran into Alicia. He had read it over and over again but no matter how many times he read the words that were on it he just couldn't let those words sink in. It was as if Welkin couldn't believe what it was but deep down he knew that it was true. The squad slowly but surely realized that the letter was bothering him, Alicia most of all.

Feeling somewhat concerned, she took a seat in a chair beside him and asked sincerely "What's wrong Welkin? Something in that letter upset you?"

And as the rest of the squad took seats everywhere else in the room Welkin admitted to them "Lucina handed me this letter. Apparently some of the German planes from the raid earlier today dropped some kind of letter carrier bomb in the courtyard of the fort."

"I remember those. It was an early method for transporting messages by plane. We used those during the Great War whenever the radios and phones were down," added Largo, recalling it from his experiences from the war.

"Yeah well this one was written by a Nazi Prince...Lelouch vi Britannia," said Jack, saying the name with some emphasis. The name itself was a bit of a shock to the squad. However, even though the man was well known and feared throughout the armies of Europa, there was not one gasp among Squad 7 as they all simply turned their angry and irritated gaze at Jack...the man who was the best friend of the Prince himself. Almost immediately, Jack could feel the scorn and anger radiating off of them over the mere mention of his friendship with Lelouch. Once again, Jack would have to endure another session of insults and put downs by these guys and girls.

"Oh really? Does that letter have anything about Jack written in there?" commented Audrey as she crossed her arms.

"Why not? After all he could have told him something pretty interesting," added Nadine, not looking any pleased either.

Jack, this whole thing getting completely annoying to him, stuffed his letter inside his pocket and then cried out "For God's sake can you people stop that! You sound like a bunch of broken records! I haven't said a damn thing to him since this war started and I sure as hell didn't have anything to do whatever is in that letter!"

"Well you're going to like this. The letter was addressed to me," explained Welkin. This time the squad was truly surprised and finally the few of them actually gasped at that announcement. The Black Prince had written to him, Welkin of all people. Most of the Squad wondered why at all. Welkin was simply a Militia Lieutenant, no one special. It certainly was something that you wouldn't see every day.

"Why did he write to you?" asked Largo curiously.

"Apparently, he was impressed by our performance on how we took Vasel. He want to have some kind of a duel between our forces and his in the Ardennes Forest. Also he says that he was sent here by his brother, the Emperor himself, to eliminate me," further explained Welkin. The line that said the Emperor himself wanted Welkin dead wasn't exactly comforting. From the speeches he listened to Byzantium give, he knew that he wasn't a man to focus on a lowly Lieutenant if there wasn't something about him that had caught his eye. Welkin figured that he must have heard his last name and figured that Welkin would be as big of a problem as his father was to the Germans during the Great War. Either that or the tactic he used to retake Vasel had impressed their Kaiser enough to cause him to worry. Whatever the answer, it perplexed him to no end.

"That's not good. If we got their head honcho's notice then things are going to get tough for us really fast. Boss, I'm good but I can't take on the whole Nazi army," said a not very worried and cautious Rosie. At that moment Jack decided to leave the room. He sensed that if he stayed any longer then this conversation would continue to drift towards him, and not in a good way. Thankfully, in the midst of their overall concern for their safety, they didn't seem to notice him leaving. All except for one that is.

"Where are you going Jack?" asked Isara.

Jack instantly froze and turned to face the group. By now, he had had enough. He had just had the most rotten few days of his life and was at his boiling point. All of his pent up anger he was building up from all of this talk of him being a Nazi sympathizer was on the verge of coming out in a fit of rage. Jack was virtually a ticking time bomb of emotion ready to be set off. Trying hard to keep it bottled up, he explained "I'm going over to Varrot's office, and ask her if my transfer request came through."

"Your transfer? To where?" asked Welkin, surprised by Jack's statement.

"To another unit. Or hopefully, a discharge which will leave me to be able to get the hell out of this country and away from you people," grumbled Jack with disgust in his voice.

Rosie, in a mocking tone, quietly clapped her hands as she said to Jack with scorn "Well bravo to you. One less bad guy in the country will be a bonus to us."

At this point, Jack's anger had now reached his limit. Now there was no way for him to contain his anger for all of his feelings were about to come out into the open for Jack had now finally had enough of all the abuse he had taken from these people in the past few days. With fury in his tone, he berated to Squad 7 "Listen here you: from the first moment I was part of this squad you guys have done noting but insult, berate, and ridicule me to no end! I have had enough of all of this! Out of the goodness of my heart I joined the Militia to help you guys, to keep your country safe and what do I get for it? I get a whole platoon of people accusing me of being a damn Nazi! You know I've put up a lot from people in my life but this takes the cake! You people look like you want to lynch me and parade me through the streets! WELL IF YOU WANT ME GONE SO BAD THEN IT'S YOUR LUCKY DAY! I AM FUCKING LEAVING THIS GODDAMN SQUAD, AND HOPEFULLY THIS GODDAMN WAR!"

Jack furious outburst caught everyone by surprise. The calm and collect boy they had known had suddenly turned into this pissed off kid who just gave them a loud and ungrateful tirade on how they had treated him recently. It had taken them aback so much that for a few minutes there was nothing but complete silence between the squad and Jack. It was obvious now that they had pushed his buttons to the breaking point. And if it was so bad that he requested a transfer from Captain Varrot personally, then it was clear that his time with them was truly coming to an end. Welkin, more than any of them, felt guilty for this. Here was one of his best friends, one whom he held much respect and admiration for, was now saying that everyone here were against him from the beginning. Perhaps they all had been rather harsh on him. Perhaps, they all owed him some kind of apology...and a big one at that. However before he or anyone else could do anything about it. Two Gallian Military Policemen came into the room.

These men and women were the ones in the Gallian Military in charge of keeping order among their forces and to act as the police for them as well. They operate the same way as normal police but with the added difference that all of their suspects were military personnel. They wore the standard dark blue tunic and black pants and boots of the Gallian Regular soldiers along with the same white stripes and gold trimmings. They wore the Gallian _Stahlhelm_ helmet painted blue with the white strip but had the letters 'MP' written in black on the front. They also had an armband on their right arm with the same black letters. Add the Colt 1911 pistol tucked into their holster, they fill in appearance for military order among the Gallian forces.

"Excuse me, are you Corporal Lawrence?" asked one of the Gallian MP's.

"Yeah, that's me. What the hell do you two want?" barked back Jack, still a bit angry after his outburst.

"We're placing you under arrest," said the MP as his partner took out his handcuffs and cuffed Jack's hands behind his back. Now everyone in the room was shocked, Jack especially. This turn of events was both unprecedented and unexpected. No one in the unit could have seen this coming, let along Jack who at this moment was being arrested and charged on Valkyrur knows what.

"What?! On what charges?!" demanded Jack, wanting to know the meaning of this.

As the Gallian MP's lead him away, one of them answered "By order of Gallian High Command, you're being charged with treason, espionage, and collaboration with the Imperial Germanian Reich."

_"Now THIS, was a major down point in my life. I was arrested for crimes that I had never committed, all because of people's paranoia that their enemy was likely in their midst. And by extension, this meant that someone of some people up in Gallian High Command actually bought the idea that I was a Nazi sympathizer and working for them at that moment. I had no idea why this was all happening to me, but I did know this: My life was about to get a whole lot more complicated whether I wanted it to or not. And this was definitely not the kind of 'complicated' that I wanted." - Jack Lawrence _

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**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this particular chapter or story send me a PM and I'll answer it to the best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and a to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum and add your vote to the polls there.**

**Now that I'm reaching the first year anniversary of when I started writing this story, it came to my attention that there are a few discrepancies in my many previous chapters. For now I'll be spending some time looking over these chapters and correcting any mistakes that I find (spelling, discrepancies in story, minor changes that I plan to fix, etc.). Shouldn't take long I believe. After that I'll get right back to working on my story. I promise.**

**Until next time,**

**-Heinkelboy05**


	58. Aslone's Downfall

**Hello folks! I'm back after fixing up my many previous chapters of my previous mistakes, adding small bits of info, replacing little details, etc. I've added some new info and stuff to some of the chapters so I's recommend reading them from first one (authors note) until the one before this in order to see what it is I've added or deleted. And I mean every chapter, including the support conversations. That's all I had to say. Other than that, enjoy my latest chapter. This is one that I definitely enjoyed writing to say the least.**

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_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_April 18, 1935_

_Central Gallian Front, Aslone Fortress_

_2345 hours (11:45 pm)_

As midnight drew closer, the German forces were preparing for what Prince Lelouch called '_Operation: Downfall_'. Thousands of German troops were now in the trenches with the rest of Lelouch's fresh reinforcements right behind them to join once the assault began. His arrival on the front had a very profound effect on the men and women on the front lines. There was a feeling in the air, the feeling that this long and terrible siege will finally come right to an end. They just knew that with the Black Prince now in charge he'd bring them the victory they had been long hoping to achieve in this battle. Each soldier readied their gear and gathered whatever ammo they could for the final push into Aslone, which they all figured would be especially ugly, bloody, and brutal. The Gallian garrison wasn't going to give up this fortress without one hell of a fight.

As his forces prepared for battle, from inside the bunker Lelouch eyes the fortress's defenses through a pair of binoculars. From there, he could see all across the heavily bombed and debris covered field of _No Man's Land_. It should provide adequate to help protect his troops upon their advance. Searchlights from the fortress were shining over _No Man's Land_ to spot any German soldiers that tried to sneak an attack on them. And if everything goes according to plan, which Lelouch had every assurance in his mind that it would, then Aslone would be in his hands before dawn. Now was the time for him to act, now was the time for his master plan to move into motion. At the stroke of midnight, Aslone's downfall would begin with a bang. With a devious smile on his face, he placed the binoculars onto a nearby table and commented to himself "The time is drawing near."

Captain Aada Schnee, who was standing in the bunker alongside Suzaku and Kallen, was slightly curious as to what the Prince's plan was. She had heard many stories of Lelouch's daring strategies that had led to victory, and that made her insatiably curious as to what plan he concocted up for taking Aslone. More importantly, she wanted to know what she was to do when this attack began. She asked him "If you don't mind me asking your highness, but what exactly is my role in all of this?"

Lelouch turned to her and explained "You'll be leading the assault on the fortress. Once you receive the signal, sound off the charge and storm the fortress."

Aada nods and replies with "Understood your highness. But...what is the signal exactly?"

"You'll know it when you see it," answered Lelouch bluntly.

* * *

_In the middle of No Man's Land_

In _No Man's Land_, where the only life that existed there was the occasional rat who came to gnaw away at the rotting German corpses, there was now new movement moving through the shadows of this barren stretch of land. Moving silently yet with haste through the desolate landscape of _No Man's Land_ was a small squad of seven German soldiers. These seven are part of Lelouch's plan to take Aslone and their role in this operation was critical to their success. A lot of pressure and the fate of thousands of loyal German troops were placed upon their shoulders, but Lelouch had every confidence in their success. The squad moved quickly from cover to cover, sticking to the shadows to try and avoid the searchlights. If they were spotted, they would be met with a hail of fire that would certainly obliterate them. So they had to be extremely careful as they made their way over to the fortress walls. And so far so good, they haven't been spotted yet. But then again, these soldiers are no ordinary German troops.

These soldiers were part of an infamous division of men and women in the _Wehrmacht_ known as the Death Korps of Krieg. Since '_Krieg_' is the German word for 'war', it was pretty clear to assume what it was they were proficient at. The division was formed around the time of the Gallian War for Independence and it quickly made a name for itself as a highly effective and highly dangerous unit in the Nazi _Wehrmacht_. The unit was different from those in the German Army due to who made it up: convicts. These were men and women from both civilian and military branches of the Reich that have been found guilty of various crimes ranging from petty theft to treason. For these convicts they were given a choice: they could either be sent to a Nazi concentration camp, which was the German version of a prison, or be sent to this unit to fight for the Reich in order to redeem themselves through battle or death. Surprisingly, most people in Germania chose to be a part of the Death Korps since being in a concentration camp seemed to be a much worse fate. The Nazi Empire sent these men to break sieges or fight defensive battles. And despite their origins as criminals before joining this division, they are in fact one of the most decorated units in the Nazi military, with it's members having earned many commendations, medals, and such by their superiors in recognition of the deeds they had performed in battle. Each engagement they fought in they surprised their adversaries with their resilience as well as their persistence to fight on till the end.

This caught the attention of Lelouch, who saw potential in these men and women. During the Border Skirmishes, he frequently served as the division's commander during skirmishes that involved them having to repel a small enemy force or to break through a tough line. Lelouch's genius and unprecedented skill as a strategist and the Death Korp's abilities made them a force to be reckoned with during this period. After these events, the Death Korps soldiers swore an oath of loyalty to Lelouch in recognition of their respect and admiration they held for his strategic skills.

These soldiers were given an appearance to make them stand out among other units in the _Wehrmacht_. In addition to wearing the standard uniform, each member wore a field-grey overcoat over said uniform with their belt and gear as well worn over the overcoat. They wore the same German _Stahlhelm_ but with a small metal crest running across the helmet from back to front. Emblazoned on the front of their helmet was the Nazi eagle clutching the swastika within their talons. As for gear and weaponry, they were given the same modern weaponry that the rest of the _Wehrmacht_ uses. And they were one of the divisions before the war that had each of their soldiers given cutlasses for close quarters combat.

Another thing that gave them an iconic appearance was that each member of the Death Korps wore a type of gas mask unique to their division. Their gas mask gave them two clear glass holes for sight and there were two small tubes connecting to a cylindrical air filter placed at the back of their neck and just below their helmet. There was also a thin metal plate on it that gave the appearance of a skull, which more than added the level of fear it gave. This gas mask gave them a terrifying appearance on the the battlefield as if their foes are fighting against faceless and hollow men who fight as if they're being attacked by the Devil himself.

The same was for their officers, whom their troops gave them the moniker 'Commissar' due to them reminding the troops of the Soviet Commissars with their patriotism and fire in their eyes. Their uniform also consisted of the standard field-grey one. Over it they wore the standard German officer's black leather trench coat and officer's cap. All of their officers were men who had proven themselves among the rest of the Death Korps and they took their roles as leaders very seriously.

In this particular unit trudging their way through the barren _No Man's Land_, it consisted of a Commissar and four regular Death Korps soldiers. The officer was armed with a cutlass and a Luger pistol while two of his soldiers wielded Kar98k bolt-action rifles, three of them armed with MP-40 sub-machine guns, and the last one was equipped with a Ragnite flamethrower. The tanks for the flamethrower were strapped to his back where a long tube and nozzle were connected to it which helped the wielder aim it at his target.

Through the last stretch of running, they manage to make it to the left wall of the battered fortress of Aslone. Thankfully, they've managed to make it this far without setting off the alarm. Now all they needed was to get inside the fortress itself and that meant that they needed to scale the steep and sloped fortress wall. One of the soldiers pulled out a grappling hook with a long strand of rope attached to it. Unraveling the rope. he swung the hook several times in a wide loop before launching it high into the air before it lands over the fortress wall. The Death Korps soldier pulls the rope where the hook manages to catch a solid grip on something on top of the wall. Once the soldier was sure that it was secure enough to hold their weight, he proceeded to start climbing up the wall, using the rope as a lifeline as one by one the squad climbed up the wall like a bug who climbs up a wall.

The officer, who was the first one climbing the rope, stopped at the top and peaked his head out. Looking from side to side, he checked to see if the area was all clear for him and his troops to proceed. Not seeing any Gallian forces he climbed up onto the ramparts and signaled for his men to follow. One by one, they all climbed on top of the wall before unhooking the grappling hook from the wall and throwing it off the wall so that no Gallian soldier would accidentally stumble upon it and discover they were in the fortress. Once that was taken cared of, they quietly and stealthy made their way across the ramparts towards a door that lead to the interior of the fortress. Calmly opening the door, they all filed in single file with the soldier armed with the MP-40 going first followed by the officer, then the remaining three soldiers.

* * *

_Back at the German Lines_

_2353 hours (11: 53 pm)_

As midnight approached, the thousands of German troops, both Death Korps and Panzergrenadiers, took positions near the ramps out of the very wide front line trenches. When the Prince gave the signal, they would rush up these ramps and race across _No Man's Land_ to take the fortress once and for all. Each of them were stocked up on ammo and grenades, but only enough so that it wouldn't impede their movement towards Aslone. Lelouch himself was now in the trenches with the troops alongside Suzaku and Aada who had grabbed a Kar98k and ammo in order to fight alongside her men. Lelouch, in his usual dramatic fashion, decided to give a speech to his troops. He stood in between his soldiers and the ramps in order to get their attention, which he succeeded in as they all snapped to attention. Lelouch wasted no time in addressing the men and women who were about to take part in this mission.

_**"Soldiers of the Wehrmacht. This mission which you are about to go on, is one critical to our success in this war. Before us stands the infamous fortress of Aslone. A fortress which has withstood all of our attacks for the past hundred years. It's defenses stood firm in both the Gallian War for Independence and the Great War. The Gallians believe that their fortress is invincible. They claim that there is no army that can capture it. However...these Gallians have never faced the wrath of the Black Prince. Nor have they faced the finest of Germania's soldiers of their generation? Am I correct?"**_

His question was met with a unanimous shout from the _Wehrmacht_ soldiers as they yelled "_Jawohl mein Prince!_" Lelouch merely grinned at their response and continued with his speech.

_**"As long as I lead you, we shall always be victorious. And if I fail you, we shall leave the battlefield with our enemy suffering from losses so great they will forever remember it. When the Atlantic Federation, the Soviet Union, and the Balkan Confederacy probed our borders, I became the man they feared more than death itself. The very man who sent their armies running for their lives. Now here we stand in Gallia, on the very verge of victory. Can you see it soldiers? Can you see yourselves marching into Randgriz with my banner held high?"**_

Once again the soldiers responded with "_Jawohl mein Prince!_"

_**"**__**This is the hour where you prove your worth as soldiers. This is the hour, where we accomplish what many have deemed to be impossible. This is the hour, where we show them what soldiers of the Wehrmacht can do!"**_

The soldiers let out a defiant shout and give Lelouch a Nazi salute while chanting "_Sieg Heil Lelouch! Sieg Heil Lelouch! Sieg Heil Lelouch!_" Lelouch's grin simply became more like a devious smirk. The man always had charisma and a talent for public speaking. And the reactions of these men and women was proof of it. It was loyalty like this that would prove vital in Lelouch's future plans, staring right here at Aslone. He'd see the fortress in his hands before dawn would break. On this he swore. As the cheering died down he checked his pocket watch. It was now less than three minutes to midnight. Less than three minutes before _Operation: Downfall_ would commence. The Death Korps infiltration team was now most likely inside Aslone and were now awaiting their signal. It was now time to ready the final part of the plan.

Directly behind the trenches, with Kallen standing beside them, was a line of three fearsome German Panzers called the _Sturmtigers_, or translated to English 'Assault Tiger'. They were another one of the Nazi prototype weapons that were being tested on the battlefield here in Gallia. These tanks were based on the Tiger chassis and were classified as Assault Guns by the military. They had a large, fixed, structure that was sloped on all sides to help better deflect enemy shells. It had five inches of armor in the front along with three in the side and in the back. It took five men to crew the tank as well as to handle it's intimidating payload. For the _Sturmtiger's_ main armament was a short barreled mortar that fired a three hundred and eighty millimeter high powered and very explosive Ragnite rocket. Since these rockets were so big, each _Sturmtiger_ could only carry about fourteen of them so that the rest of the tank equipment could fit inside along with the crew. These tanks were designed to help the Wehrmacht take out very stubborn defenses such as that presented by the Aslone fortress. Lelouch had brought the only three prototypes in existence in order to test them out here.

By now, the three _Sturmtigers_ were reading themselves to fire. Inside, the crews were meticulously placing one of their Ragnite rockets into the firing chamber and closing the hatch. The gunners looked through their sights to line up the shot precisely where Lelouch had stated that they'd hit. The location he gave them would be the one area where the wall was at it's weakest and the one area where their rockets could do the utmost damage to the fortress's defenses. Lelouch checked his pocket watch again, it was now less than a minute to midnight, time for things to go into motion. He raised his arm high to signal the gunners on the tanks to take aim. The _Sturmtigers_ slowly traversed their guns until all three were aimed right where they were supposed to be. Now all they needed was the order to fire and they would end up delivering their explosive payload towards Aslone.

* * *

_Inside Fort Aslone Command Cente_r

Looking over the wide windows, Major Arnold Weber stared into the distance at the German lines, now hidden in the bleak darkness of the night. Outside of the searchlights illuminating the area between the fortress and the German trenches, the only real sources of light was coming from the full moon, the lights inside the fort, and if you stand in just the right place, the searchlights emanating from Randgriz. And from inside his command center, he was was silently praying to himself that he and his men had managed to survive another day of this siege. It hasn't truly been easy on them since this whole thing began. And many of the Gallian Regulars manning the fort were wondering when the rest of the Gallian military would come and push back the German Army and end the siege. It would surely be a welcome change to the constant enemy barrages and infantry charges they were so used to be now. None wished this more than Major Weber himself.

The Major was a man in his mid-forties, as well as a Baron in the Gallian nobility. He had a medium build, combed back brown hair, green eyes, and a waxed mustache like those worn during the Great War. Unlike most nobles in High Command, he was a much more competent leader then his fellows, and much more down to earth with the ideas and morals of the present day. He served in the Great War and fought throughout it's duration in charge of a squad as Lieutenant. He distinguished himself through his actions and received several medals for those actions. After the war he was promoted to the rank of Major and placed in charge of maintaining the Aslone fortress as it's commanding officer. Unlike his colleagues in Gallian High Command who had earned their positions through family connections, he earned his rank through actual hard work. And he cared about his men, more than any other noble commander of his rank did. And he was determined to keep them safe and Aslone out of German hands.

Before the war he and his men did work in modernizing the fort's walls and armament to make them up to date with today's weaponry. So far, the battle had proven that they had did a swell job considering how well they've held up under the German artillery bombardment. However, he knew that their walls were not invincible. It would only be a matter of time before they would give out and the Germans would be able to storm Aslone and overwhelm it's defenders. All he could do at the moment was prolong the battle as long as he could and hope that High Command would be able to send him reinforcements and fresh supplies as well. At least he was doing something right here.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the words of one of his men who asked "Everything all right sir?"

Major Weber looked at the soldier with his weary face and answered truthfully "I'm fine, Private. Just hoping that nothing happens tonight. The men deserve a bit of rest from these constant attacks by the Germans."

"We knew what we signed up for when we were assigned here Major. We'll be fine," assured the Private, noting the hidden meaning in what Major Weber was stating.

"I hope so. What time is it anyway Private?" asked Weber, having felt as if he had lost all track of time. With all of the long, late night sessions of battle it wasn't that hard for many of the fort's defenders to find themselves awake up until the crack of dawn. It had become something of a habit for Aslone's garrison.

The soldier looked at his watch before reporting to his superior "It should be midnight right about...now. Say hello to April 19, 1935 Major."

Weber chuckled for a moment before stating "Heh. I suppose that means that we should get ready for another long and sleep-"

Before Weber could finish his sentence, he managed to catch a quick glimpse of three simultaneous flashes of light come from the German lines. Within microseconds of witnessing this, he was blinded by a extremely large blast of light caused by some kind of explosion in the front of the fort's walls. The shock wave of the blast was intense as well. It shock the fortress to it's foundation and Weber lost his balance, falling down onto the floor with a great amount of force. As Weber laid upon the ground, dazed and with his ears ringing, his mind became flooded with questions about what had just happened. '_What was that explosion? How did this happen? Was it from the Germans or from us? What in blazes is going on here?!' _he thought as he slowly but surely got his bearings and stood back up on his feet along with the soldier he was talking to earlier. Once they were both back on their feet they looked to see what kind of damage that explosion had done.

What they saw was nothing like they expected to see. Through the blue smoke and raging fires caused by the Ragnite infused explosives, they could see that the blast had managed to completely destroy the midsection of the wall facing the German lines. The location of the explosion was right where one of the fort's powder magazines were, which only added more boom to the explosion. The wall was shattered right to the ground, providing a very large opening for the German forces. The rubble from the wall was flung in many directions, much of it either landing harmlessly in _No Man's Land_ or crashing into other ares of the fortress, damaging it even further. Now Major Weber had a reason to worry. With one of their magazines gone, the wall surrounding it blown to bits, and the damage to the wall at that...Aslone was now completely vulnerable.

* * *

_Meanwhile, In Fort Amaranthine_

Everything was quiet for those in Amaranthine at the moment. Most of the garrison was asleep, laying quietly in their bunks, dreaming away as the fighting was being waged miles away from their location on the front lines. To them, this was their few precious moments to relax in between the battles. But soon, their peace and quiet was shattered when they heard a loud and tremendous boom in the distance. Even though the explosion was perhaps miles away, it was still loud enough to wake up many of the sleeping Regulars and Militia and cause them to look out to the direction from where the blast oriented.

Looking for a better view, many of the Gallian soldiers exited their barracks and gathered in the courtyard. From there they could see things more clearly than from their windows. From the distance they could see a large cloud of blue smoke as well as the glow of an intense Ragnite fire at the same location as well. From what they could tell, this seemed to be coming from the Aslone Fortress, the only Gallian position besides Randgriz that was close enough for them to see the glow from a fire. Whatever was going on, it appeared to be coming from that location. And everyone was curious as to what the hell it was that was going on there. Many of them pretty much figured that it was some kind of German assault taking place as it was most likely the only thing that made sense at the time.

The crowd stared at the blue glow upon the horizon for several minutes before armed soldiers arrived. They separated the crowd and as they escorted them back to their barracks they said to go back to sleep and just forget about it. Whatever it was that was going on at Aslone, they would have to wait until morning to figure it out.

* * *

_Back in the German trenches_

The German forces were in complete awe at what they had just seen. For many long and arduous weeks of this siege they had longed to witness the sight of Aslone's walls crumbling before their eyes. And in a matter of seconds, their Prince Lelouch had made that dream a reality via a few well placed shots from one of their new weapons. For them, there was now only one course left: charge straight ahead and with all their might to wrestle control of the fort for Germania. And they would have to do it fast before the Gallians could recover from the explosion and end up manning whatever was left of the fort's cannons and start firing away at them instead. And their charge would come sooner than expected thanks to Lelouch. With a devilish smile, he looked to Captain Aada and calmly ordered "Captain, sound the charge. Kill all that stand in your way."

Aada, with not an ounce of hesitation she pulled out her whistle and blew on it as hard as she could, sending out a loud, high pitched scream. With their spirits and courage at an all time high, the _Panzergrenadiers_ and Death Korps soldiers shouted a loud and defiant battle cry as they rushed up the ramps and across _No Man's Land_ as fast as they legs could carry them over the heavily shelled terrain. After perhaps fifteen seconds, the field was flooded with thousands of German soldiers charging towards Aslone, swords drawn, bayonets fixed, and weapons loaded. To any particular person viewing this, they would think this was like the massed infantry charges used greatly during the Great War. All that was missing was the enemy machine gun and artillery fire raining upon them and cutting their troops to shreds. When they reached the halfway mark to the fort, they received their usual welcome from the Gallians. The chattering of machine guns and the resounding boom of artillery guns filled the air as bullets and shells stuck hard upon the charging Germans. But due to the explosion, it had knocked out some of their weapons and the firepower they were using against the Germans was only a fraction of their full strength. They were managing to cut them down, but not enough of them to stop their advance. The German simply were fielding more troops and getting closer and closer to the breach in the wall.

In the front of the charge, Aada zigzagged through the craters and debris while bullets and red tracers whizzed by her head, either striking the ground or a comrade next to her. Every moment she kept running was another moment when one of the Gallians would have a lucky shot hit her somewhere vital and she's be dead before she hit the ground. Pretty stressful situation for any young soldier and officer. However, these soldiers weren't some naive kids who were fresh out of training and sent upon their first assignment. These were the troops who had endured this siege throughout it's entirety and that left them valuable experience and strengthened their resolve in the face of adversity. These troops were in the zone, and ready to end this thing, once and for all.

The Gallian forces firing on them from the ramparts were desperately trying to hold back the German's renewed assault. They emptied dozens of magazines from the rifles, sub-machine guns, and Gallian Maxim machine guns in their vain attempt to hold back the Nazis. No matter how many bullets they rained down upon them, even aided by the moonlight to help their aim they just couldn't stop them enough to prevent them from advancing any further. The Germans were now getting dangerously close to the breach. The Gallians were now going to have to resort to their backup plan: fight the Germans inside of the fortress. As the Germans drew ever closer, many of the Gallians on the ramparts stopped firing and rushed down the stairs to take up defensive positions inside the forts's interior. They ran quickly in order to try and beat the Germans to the opening and get off the first shots.

Unfortunately, as the rushed towards the breach, the Nazis got there first. They charged through the smoke, guns blazing. Both side immediately went to cover and fired at each other. Several Gallians managed to get killed in the volleys of gunfire before they took cover behind the rubble and crates and returned fire. In the first few moments, both sides were evenly matched opponents. But as more and more German troops flooded into the base, the odds began drifting towards the Germans. But nonetheless, the Gallians would end up fighting tooth and nail to keep this fort out of their hands.

* * *

_Inside Fort Aslone Command Center_

Major Weber looked out the window in complete shock over what he was seeing. Aslone Fortress, which was long thought to be impregnable, had finally been breached. As more German troops poured into the fort, either by storming in through the breach or by grappling hook, they were beginning to overrun the entire garrison through their sheer numbers and firepower. they were going to need help, and a lot of it if they were going to need all the help that High Command was able to spare at the moment. There was no doubt that the higher ups in Randgriz would have heard the massive explosion and seen the light from it as well. It was likely that they were worried that there was something wrong happening in Aslone. If they sent a message back to Fort Amaranthine, they'd probably be able to turn the battle in their favor.

Weber looked to one of his men, who was manning the radio and ordered "Get me a secure line to Amaranthine on the double!"

The soldier nodded his head and replied "On it sir. Just a few small changes and we'll-"

His sentence was interrupted when the the officer and two riflemen from the Death Korps infiltration team busted down the door. The riflemen took aim at the two Gallian Regulars in the room and fired, killing them before they had a chance to raise their weapons. The Death Korps Commissar then pulled out his pistol and pointed it right at the shocked Major Weber while his men held the rest of the room at gunpoint with their rifles.

"I'm afraid that no one will be coming to your rescue tonight Major," commented the Death Korps officer, his voice normal voice sounding much deeper and altered due to his mask. Major Weber and the rest of the technicians and aides simply stood there stunned with disbelief as they raised their hands as if they were surrendering. Here they were, being held prisoner in their own Command Center as a battle for the Aslone was being waged right outside the room. A battle that they were currently losing by the minute.

* * *

_Fort Aslone's Main Courtyard_

The fighting had now spread to the center of the fortress, and here it had developed into a large example close-quarters combat. Here, German and Gallian soldiers were battling it out with rifle attached bayonets, cutlasses, and even digging spades as they engaged in a large and chaotic brawl. The term 'brawl' seemed to be accurate way of describing it since this seemed to be exactly like any normal one with the exception that this was much, much more bloody. It was one bloody squabble where one minute a soldier could be plunging his bayonet into another man's chest and in the next, he himself is killed by a slash from an enemy cutlass that nicks a vital artery, causing the soldier to fall into the ground and bleed to death in a pool of his own blood. That's what it was like in this kind of combat. And the only way you could survive depended upon the factors of luck, combat skills, and being able to counter your enemies blows as well as land hits on him before anyone else. Duels such as this were happening between Gallian and German soldiers all over the courtyard.

One such duel pitted a Death Korps soldier armed with a Kar98k and attached bayonet against a Gallian Regular who had only a cutlass in his hand. The Death Korps soldier lunged at him with his rifle, with the Gallian managing to narrowly avoid it by jumping backwards. The Regular retaliated by attacking the German with a few slashed from his cutlass, each one blocked by his rifle. The German then used the butt of his rifle and landed a blow right in the Regular's face, leaving a nasty gash on the soldier's face. The blow to his face caused him to lose balance and he fell backwards, landing on the stone floor with his back. Not wasting the opportunity, the German plunged his fixed bayonet directly into the Gallian's chest, piercing his heart. The Gallian screamed in pain as the pain in his chest felt as if there was over a thousand needles piercing his skin. His howling cries were silenced when the German fired his rifle at point blank range, killing him instantly.

As the Death Korps soldier pulled out his bayonet from his fallen enemies chest, several shots rang out and a bullet struck him in the chest, killing him and several other Death Korps and _Panzergrenadiers_. Soon, German soldiers were beginning to drop all over the courtyard like flies as Gallian Scouts had taken up position upon upper floors and were now firing their Gallian-M4 rifles down upon the courtyard through windows, firing slits, or large holes created by enemy artillery shells. Their accurate shooting, as well as the Germans being so preoccupied in the close-quarter combat, it left with many being killed in the first salvos before they could do anything. The rapid loss of their comrades caused the Germans to fall into a massed and disorderly route towards one of the main exits with the Gallian regulars in hot pursuit. The Germans managed to clear the exit as the Gallians trailed behind them, hot on their heels and wanting blood. Even though their fortress was falling all around them and the fact that they were most likely losing, it wasn't going to stop them from taking advantage of a situation like this.

However, tragedy stuck these men as they neared the exit the retreating German forces fled through. Through the opening, they saw Captain Aada, her uniform bloody and scarred a bit from the fighting, along with a few of her _Panzergrenadiers_ armed with Ragnite flamethrowers lined up right in front of the approaching mob of Gallian soldiers. Aada now holding her rapier, swung it towards the ground while shouting "_Feuer!_"

Releasing the safeties on their weapons, the Germans ignited their flamethrowers which spewed bursts of Ragnite infused fire towards the Gallians, setting them ablaze. The Gallians caught in the opening salvos of scorching fire weren't killed instantly, but screamed in pain from the intense heat and burning. Within seconds, the fires that had engulfed their bodies burned their skin and were now scorching their insides as they became surrounded by the heat the flames were giving off. The Gallians flailed around on the ground in a vain attempt to put out the flames on their bodies, only prolonging their agony. Their comrades in the rear, who were smart enough to stop running as the first few dozen Regulars were cut down by the flamethrowers, watched in absolute terror as their comrades were being burned alive before their very eyes. Incredibly distraught over what they were seeing, they almost immediately turned around and ran in a panic towards the exit on the other end of the courtyard. All the way they ran, they shouted to their comrades "FALL BACK! EVERYONE PULL BACK! ASLONE HAS FALLEN!"

The Germans quickly ran after them, running through the still burning bodies of the Gallian Regulars, whom most had now died from the extreme heat and burning. As they ran after them, Aada had some of her men take out the surviving Gallians who were still alive and not as badly burned. To Aada, she saw this as simply putting these troops out of their misery. Even with medical intervention, it was doubtful that they would survive from their burns. They would end their suffering quickly and painlessly via a bullet to the head. Walking among them, she spotted one that he men appeared to have missed.

The young man was about her age, even through all of the second and third degree burns she could tell that. It appeared that his face, his right arm, along with the right half of his torso bore the main brunt of the fire. His hair had completely disappeared from his head, and his now heavily burnt face destroyed whatever youth one could see when he was looked upon by his fellow soldiers. And his eyes appeared to have melted into a pile of white goo that was now oozing out of his eye sockets, rendering the boy completely blind. And through some of his burn wounds, blood was beginning to slowly seep through. His breaths were shallow and ragged, as now breathing caused him great pain and he could only breathe like this to limit the pain. This man was going to die, there was no doubt about it with his wounds.

Aada was slightly disturbed by what she was seeing. Here was this guy, no older than her, clinging to the last few precious moments of his life. He blindly reached out his hand up into the air, seeking help where their was none. Aada almost felt the urge to do something for him. But she knew deep down that there was nothing she was capable of doing that could save his life. The only thing she could do was give him a quick death, and end his suffering. Without so much as a tear to trickle down her cheek, she quickly slashed the man's weakened neck with her rapier, slicing his throat. And with a last exhale, the soldier died where he laid. Regaining her composure, she sheathed her rapier back into it's scabbard and set off to rejoin her troops, still chasing the retreating Gallians.

* * *

_At the Rear Gate_

The little over a twenty Gallian survivors of the battle were racing towards the rear gate in hopes of escaping the slaughter that had befallen them this night. Like madmen on a mission, they ran for their lives. No longer caring about protecting the fortress, they were now more concerned about keeping themselves alive. They needed to get out of this fortress and back to Randgriz. They needed to warn the government, High Command, _anyone_ that the Germans have seized the fortress. It was all that they could do for anyone at the moment. And they needed to do it fast before the Germans caught up with them and gunned them down. They couldn't warn anyone if they were dead. With the gate in their sights, the Sergeant in charge of them rallied her men by shouting "Everyone! Keep running! Don't stop for anything!"

She looked to see the gate was already open which surprised her. Usually the gate was closed unless a convoy of trucks arrived from Fort Amaranthine to resupply them with food and ammunition. Even then they had it shut until they checked the trucks to see exactly what they were carrying. After they were done they were allowed inside. Then again, the gate might have been opened by a few Gallian soldiers who believed as well as they did that the battle was lost and provided the survivors a quick way out. Either way, it being open right upon their arrival was mysterious to say the least. But at this moment, none of the retreating Gallians seemed to care. All they cared about was that they were glad the way open was clear of German troops...or so they thought.

As the closed in on the gate, dozens of German soldiers popped out from hiding behind the crates, vehicles, and other gear placed near the gate. They immediately pointed their weapons directly at them, determined to gun them down if they approached any further. Upon seeing these soldiers, the Gallians stooped and froze where they stood, shocked to see that they had beaten them to the gate. The remaining soldiers from the Death Korps infiltration unit were among the group. Their part here was to open the rear gate for another strike team to enter through the back and block the only way out for the Gallians. And it appears that they had succeeded in this mission as did their companions.

"Going somewhere Bluecoats?" said the Death Korps soldier with the flamethrower, calling the Gallians by the common nickname the Germans gave them due to their uniform color.

The Gallians were almost tempted to open fire and fight their way out of here. But hearing the mass of footsteps approaching from behind dashed their hopes. They looked behind to see a large amount of German soldiers, both _Panzergrenadiers_ and Death Korps, arrive behind them and aimed their weapons as well. Now the Gallians were surrounded on both sides. If they attempted to fire they would immediately be cut to pieces in the ensuing crossfire. No matter what they tried, it was over: they were prisoners of war now.

Knowing that ultimately an further resistance would be futile, the Gallian soldiers dropped their weapons and raised their hands high to surrender. Several German soldiers from each side approached them, got them on their knees and cuffed their hands behind their backs. Once that was over with they led away by armed soldiers while the rest of the German soldiers dispersed. And with that act, the Siege of Aslone had finally come to a bloody end.

* * *

_Near the breach in the Wall_

_0113 hours (1:13 am)_

Major Weber, his staff, and any of the surviving garrison, numbering about thirty-three in total, were led at gunpoint towards the breach and lined up in rows. with their hands bound and their weapons seized from them all they could do was simply stand there and await whatever fate their captors had in store for them. Most of them simply expected an execution by firing squad...or worse. But the strange thing was that nothing seemed to happen. They simply held them together in the group and stood guard, appearing to be waiting for something to happen or for someone to arrive. And lieu behold, someone did arrive.

Through the smoke given off by the still smoldering ruins of the fortress wall, strode in Lelouch with Kallen and Lelouch beside him and protected by a small squad of soldiers. Major Weber was the first man to catch a glimpse of him, and instantly he recognized him for who he was. He was the dreaded Black Prince, the man whom every General in Europa feared more than anything. It explained how the Germans managed to breach the wall and take the fort so easily. Only someone like Prince Lelouch could have so easy concocted a strategy that went so perfectly and without any real major problems. He should have realized it was him from the start...then again he probably hoped that it wasn't him at all that Weber was facing.

Lelouch, with a devious smirk on his face, walked over to Major Weber and the POW's and calmly boasted "And so the might fortress of Aslone has fallen at last. My, oh my, this wasn't as hard as I thought it would be."

Major Weber, in a mixture of fear and shock, stuttered out to the Prince "You...you...you're the...the...the..."

"The, the, the...The Black Prince. Three simple little words. It appears that my reputation proceeds me once again," said Lelouch, finishing Weber's statement.

Somehow getting back his confidence, Weber shot back and accused Lelouch "So you're the bastard who managed to take my fort?"

"_You're_ fort? Don't be naive. This fortress belongs to me now. _You_, are merely a prisoner. Albeit an important one at the moment. You have uses Major Weber, and I intend you to make you _very_ useful. Take them away Sergeant. Lock them in the cells," corrected Lelouch. The German Sergeant nodded his head in understanding and with his soldiers, lead the Gallian prisoners to their cell. At this point, Captain Aada, who had heard the Prince arrive, walked up to him and his entourage and saluted them.

"Your Highness, we have complete control over Aslone. Should we continue to march on Randgriz?" asked Aada.

"No. Not yet. Not yet Captain. I have a plan. And I expect you to help it be carried out. My friend Suzaku here will fill you in on what I need for you to do. Until then, you're dismissed," answered Lelouch, leaving her his instructions in before he walked off to the command center along with two armed soldiers as his guards. Aada was a little confused by his words. With Aslone under their control, Randgriz was less than ten miles away. Surely it would be a better idea to simply regroup and continue on with the march while they still had the element of surprise. _Why was he telling them to wait? What was his master plan?_ All good questions...but there was more of them than actual answers.

Curious, she looks to Kallen and asks her "Is he always this mysterious?"

Kallen simply chuckles and replies "Yeah. But then again, it's just one of the things that reminds me of why I love him." She then leaves for the Command Center as well, guarded by two more soldiers. This leaves Suzaku alone with Aada.

Suzaku wastes no time in telling her the instructions "First thing we'll need to do is this. You'll be the head of the garrison here. Your men will have to trade uniforms. Have them put on the Gallian uniforms and assume their duties."

Aada, still a bit confused, asks him "Why exactly are we doing that?"

Suzaku continued with "Because the Gallians will no doubt have heard that explosion. Which means they may have suspicions that Aslone has already fallen. If we have our soldiers wear their uniforms, assume their duties, and etc. we'll be able to make them believe that they still control the fortress."

"And lull them into a false sense of security," summed up Aada.

"Exactly. We'll man the radios as well, in case they try to contact us that way. Also, see if you can find a way to fix that wall...or at least re-fortify it," suggested Suzaku. And with that, the two of them went their separate ways in order to prepare the next stage of Lelouch's grand plan to seize Randgriz.

_"From that point on, the wheels of history were taking one hell of a detour than what everyone outside of Lelouch's circle believed. Very few knew his master plan for taking Randgriz, but keeping up with the deception that Aslone was still in Gallian hands was the key to it. Whatever his strategy was, it was evident that something big was about to go down. And I just clinged to whatever hope I had left in my heart, that my childhood friend wasn't setting up Gallia to be ruled by the Nazi Empire for another two hundred years." - Jack Lawrence_

* * *

**Whew. This was one tough chapter to write. But still, it was a nice kind of challenge for me. I hope you guys liked it. From this point on, things are going to get really, really interesting. And more fun for me to write.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	59. The Elderly Man at the Cemetery

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_April 19, 1935_

_Randgriz Memorial Cemetery_

_1022 hours (10:22 am_)

In this large plot of land several miles outside the capital city of Randgriz, there was a cemetery that Gallia had dedicated to their heroes who had died defending their country. Many of the countries greatest heroes, dating as far back to the nation's founding were laid to rest here. There were even a few Gallian heroes buried here who served in the German _Wehrmacht_ during the Nazi Empire's two century long occupation of Gallia. Though the idea of burying those who fought in the Nazi Empire was questionable, it seemed appropriate that since they were born in Gallia and fought for it during Germania's rule that they should be given the honor of a burial here.

The cemetery was cordoned off with a high brick wall, it's only entrance was an iron gate, and inside they had their white granite headstones lines up in uniformed little rows with at the center being a stone statue of Gallia's first ruler, Archduke Graz gi Randgriz, known throughout the country as the "Founder of Gallia" for being the one to proclaim the formation of the Principality of Gallia as a nation. After his death, his tomb was built directly under that statue while the rest of his descendants were buried in the Royal Crypt within Randgriz. Ever since then, Gallia has honored her heroes by burying them next to the tomb of their first ruler. The most recent addition to the cemetery was none other than the 'Hero of Gallia' himself, General Belgen Gunther.

It was on this day, that Welkin Gunther rode up to the entrance in a Gallian military jeep, stopping just short of the main entrance. His facial expression wasn't his normal self today. In fact, it was always more solemn and saddened on this day. It's been this way for about nine years now. Every year around this time he would make the trip up here to pay his respects to one certain person who was buried in this cemetery...someone pretty special to him. It had become something of a habit for Welkin. Something he never confessed to having. But this was something that he to do nonetheless.

As he grabbed the bouquet of Edelweiss flowers from the passenger seat, he turned off the jeep and exited the vehicle. With calm strides, he made his way up to the guard post which controlled the iron gate allowing people into the cemetery. The Regular inside was situated behind a glass window and was writing away in some kind of notebook on his desk. Either he was writing about his memoirs or just a letter to his family, Welkin didn't know or cared. All he wanted was to be allowed entry into the cemetery. That was all. As Welkin approached the window, the guard noticed him and put away his notebook in order to talk to him.

"Hello there, Welcome to the Randgriz Memorial Cemetery. Please present your identification," instructed the guard.

Welkin did as he said, he pulled out his Militia identification papers and handed them through the slot cut in between the glass. The guard unfolded them and read it over carefully. When he read Welkin's name, his eyebrow arched up a bit as he recognized it from yesterday's paper. It actually surprised him that the new hero of the war had come here, though he pretty much figured out the reason as to why he was here. Without another word, he handed back Welkin's papers through the slot which Welkin promptly took, folded them back, and placed them into his pocket. The guard then pressed a small red button on his desk, and just like that, the gates opened up. Welkin simply offered the guard a 'Thank You' before proceeding inside the cemetery, with the door closing behind them once he passes through the entrance. Welkin slowly paced himself, walking past the rows of headstones as he made his way to the one that he was looking for. A few more rows, a turn to the left, several steps more and he had finally arrived at the gravestone he was searching for.

_Belgen Gunther_

_Born: April 19, 1887 __Died: May 24, 1926_

_Hero of Gallia_

_General of the Gallian Army_

_Loving Father and Husband_

"Hey, Dad," he said with a small smile upon Welkin's face, he knelt down and placed the bouquet of flowers on his father's grave. It had been a while since he had come to visit his father's grave. With this particular visit he hoped for some answers to all the questions that have been rushing through his head for the past couple of days. He just couldn't believe how fast events were happening. First Gallia is invaded and Bruhl was lost within just a couple hours of fighting. Then he volunteered for the Militia, was made the head of a platoon of men and women as a Lieutenant, labeled as a hero after a few small battles, and now a man he once considered to be one of his closest friends was just dragged away by the MP's on charges of treason. How in the world was he supposed to get through all of this? Maybe his father had the answers.

"I know it's been a while since my last visit but things have been pretty hectic with the war and all. Kind of makes me wonder if it was just as bad when you were in the Great War," explained Welkin, talking as if his father was standing right in front of him. It was common for people who visited the graves of their loved ones. Welkin wasn't sure why exactly they did this, but he pretty much guessed that there was some reason for this.

"Isara wanted to come along but she had some things to take care of with the _Edelweiss_. It's pretty hard to tear her away from that thing. She's taken pretty good care of it after you left," added Welkin. Normally, Isara would come along with Welkin on these visits but in this war, the _Edelweiss_ took priority. Though Welkin did promise to bring her the next time, she did enjoy these little visits to her adoptive father's grave as she was very fond of him when he was still alive.

Getting back to business, Welkin gave out a long and heavy sigh before continuing with "I'm having a tough time here Dad. Things are getting pretty intense over here. And I'm just not sure how I can cope with all of this. I mean people are looking to me like I'm going to become their savior like you were. But I have no clue how in the world I'm supposed to live up to their expectations. I just...I just wish I knew how."

The frustration in Welkin's voice was evident as he could still feel the pressure of the responsibility that had been placed upon his shoulders merely a few days ago. Even now, things were just getting more and more tense for him. Being a Gunther was more than just the legacy his father left after the Great War. Their family could trace their ancestral roots to a few members who served in the Gallian War for Independence, even to one who served under Archduke Graz during Gallia's founding years. Their family had a long legacy for defending Gallia from those who sought to conquer it, and Welkin seemed to be the latest in that long line to take up the family tradition. But much has changed since his father's time. The Germans had become much more powerful, more powerful then they had ever been, and Welkin still wasn't sure if it was still possible for Gallia to win this war. Every day the odds of victory seemed to be less and less likely to happen. The only real certainty was that no matter the outcome of this war, Gallia would suffer greatly for it.

Before Welkin could continue any further into his thoughts, he could faintly hear the grass behind him being trampled. He calmly swiveled his head to the left and saw an elderly man, a man about seventy five years, just standing there as if he was listening to his whole soliloquy. The man had several wrinkles upon his face, as well as grey, combed hair, and a grey waxed mustache much like men during the Great War used to have. He was wearing a freshly pressed white suit and pants made of what appeared to be very expensive and elegant fabric, the same used in his black tie. He also wore a Panama hat with a little red feather tucked in to add a nice bit of color and flair to the outfit. Lastly, the man had an elaborate walking stick made of a dense wood and coated in a black gloss. It had a silver pommel which he used as the grip and was elaborately engraved. It's golden trim and ivory Iron Cross upon the handle showed that this was an expensive walking stick, meant for a man of nobility. And the man standing before Welkin truly did look like he belonged to the Gallian nobility. Though there was a big social gap between the two of them, Welkin couldn't help but feel that he had seen this man somewhere before.

"I'm sorry. I was just walking by and I couldn't help but eavesdrop. I meant no offense," spoke the elderly man in a familiar accent that Welkin just couldn't put, speaking calmly to reassure his good will.

"It's alright. I just wasn't expecting anyone else here due to the war," said Welkin.

The elderly man continued with "No worries. I just figured you were paying your respects and it would have been rude for me to interrupt. If you don't mind me asking, but what's your name young man?"

Welkin simply gave him a quick salute before introducing himself "My name's Welkin Gunther. I'm a Lieutenant in the Gallian Militia and the commander of the 7th Platoon."

The man simply ran the name through his head for a moment before responding "Gunther...huh. You must be Belgen's little boy. You've grown up quite a bit."

Welkin was slightly puzzled from his comment. The man was implying that they had met somewhere, and Welkin did have the nagging feeling that was true. The only problem was that he just couldn't figure out where. He clearly didn't remember him coming over to his house back in Bruhl to visit his father, that's for sure. The only time where he saw all of his father's friends all together was...was at his funeral. Now it suddenly made sense. Welkin now remembered where he had seen this elderly man before.

"I've seen you before. You were here nine years ago, when they buried my father," commented Welkin.

"Yes, you're right. I knew your father. He was...a good friend of mine. One of the few true friends that I ever had in my life. I was saddened by his passing," confirmed the elderly man. He gestured with his hand for Welkin to follow him, which he did. the two men walked side by side as they marched over to a nearby bench. The elderly man was leaning heavily against his walking stick, a sign of his age. When the two men settled down on the bench, he grunted as he adjusted to the position.

"Are you okay sir?" asked Welkin, noting how he seemed to be in pain somewhat.

"I'm fine boy. It's just me being an old man. I'm not quite the man I used to be," noted the elderly man. That much was evidently clear by the fact that he needed a walking cane to walk and his facial features only helped add to the fact that his golden and youthful years were long behind him.

"I can see. Just who are you exactly?" asked Welkin, curious as to whom this man really was and how he knew his father.

The elderly man merely chuckled before responding "I'm just a leftover from the Great War. Not much use to anyone these days, especially the military."

Welkin nodded his head and responded "Okay, that answers one of my questions. How did you know my father exactly?"

The elderly man took a deep breath before explaining in depth "I came to Gallia a few months after the Great War ended. I didn't have any friends when I came here and felt...well, alone you could say. That is when I met your father. Despite our differences, he saw that we were the same on the inside. He and I quickly became good friends until the day he died. He was a man that I admired, and from what I've heard you seem to be a lot like your father."

Welkin almost let out a light chuckle at that last comment. It had almost become something of a common thing for people to say. Most people would compare Welkin to his father, either saying how surprisingly different the two were or the exact opposite in that they seemed so very similar. True, there were some similarities between Welkin and his father such as their love of nature and how they viewed everyone as an equal, but there were also some differences between the two as well. One major difference was their service history. Welkin's father was a Lanseal Academy graduate, served for almost two decades in the Gallian Regular Army and was involved in perhaps the most destructive conflict in human history. Now as for Welkin, he was just a Lieutenant in the Gallian Militia, never went to Lanseal, and was only involved in two battles in a much smaller war between just Gallia and the Imperial Germanian Reich. Their roles couldn't be any more different from each other. And yet here he is, being hailed as a hero before he had even done anything noteworthy to be called a hero. But all of this was just unavoidable. No matter what, Welkin was the son of Belgen Gunther. He couldn't help it if people compared the two of them. But then again, it didn't help in terms of dealing with all the pressure that Welkin was under.

"Yeah well, I doubt my father could have imagined the kind of challenges that I have to go up against," commented Welkin, his face looking more worried than it was before.

His expression was noticed by the elderly man. He truly felt sorry for the boy. He could see that the young man never felt that he was special, and yet here he was, thrust into this war with everyone believing that a Gunther will once again save Gallia from another Nazi occupation. The old man didn't envy the boy's position, only felt sympathy for him. He had seen that look before on many people. Perhaps, just perhaps, there was something he could do to help alleviate some of the stress that has been placed upon this young man like speaking some words of encouragement. And he knew just what kind of words to say.

"Lieutenant Gunther, have you ever heard of the Minutemen?" asked the elderly man, using the question to explain his point.

Welkin simply looked at the man and answered honestly with "I think so, they were irregular soldiers in the American Revolution. Why are you asking me this?"

"Simply put, they were just average men and women. Much like the Gallian Militia, many people didn't believe they would amount to much. But they managed to defeat an empire and found a nation. A small ragtag band of guerrillas became the first soldiers of a new nation. And today that nation is one of the two most powerful nations in the world," the elderly man explained further. However, Welkin still wasn't exactly clear on what it was that he was trying to explain to him. The elderly man could see that so he decided to get to the point on what it was that he was trying to tell Welkin.

"When you look into a history book about a famous battle, you see that it's always the leader in charge that's mentioned. Napoleon, Sun Tzu, Julius Caesar, George Washington, all of them were great men. Great leaders. But they weren't the only people who won the wars. Generals may draw up the plans and create the strategies...but it's the common soldiers like you who are the most important people. Without you, Generals would never have armies. It's the split second decisions you make on the battlefield that determine a victory or a defeat. No matter what, common soldiers like you and your men are the real heroes of this conflict and everyone before it. Sometimes, it's those whom we expect the least of, to do the greatest of things," further explained the elderly man, making his case quite clear to Welkin. Now, Welkin actually understood what he was trying to tell him. People can't choose how they start out how their life. But what they can do is determine how they live their lives and make something out of themselves. When it came to the Militia, Gallia's Generals never thought much about either him or his unit. But perhaps they would be the ones to actually be the ones to win the battles that no one else could. And perhaps...it simply meant that Welkin would simply just give his all to be a good commander. He didn't have to be a hero like everyone predicted he'd be. He's just have to be the commander of Squad 7. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Do you really think we can succeed?" inquired Welkin, wondering if that was truly something that the elderly man believed in.

The elderly man simply smiled and answered truthfully "I do. And I can see that you'll become a great man. I know it."

And with that last line, it seemed that Welkin's worries seemed to be put at ease. Somehow, this man he was sitting with had a somewhat calming effect on him with his words. It was almost as if he had given advice like this for a while, perhaps his whole life. And it looks like he just managed to help one more person. With a bit of new found confidence brewing within him, he got up from his seat on the bench and looked over to the elderly man before saying to him "Thanks for the words of advice. I needed it."

"Your welcome," simply replied the elderly man with a smile upon his face. Replying back with a smile as well, Welkin turned on his heel and walked out the same entrance that he came through. He had already been here too long. He needed to return back to Fort Amaranthine and get back to work as soon as possible. The elderly man simply remaining on the bench, admiring the beautiful weather they were having today. As Welkin walked away from sight, the sounds of approaching footsteps once again filled the air. The elderly man knew whom those steps belonged to all too clearly.

It belonged to an approaching man who was dressed in a Gallian Military uniform, but not one belonging to either the Militia or the Regulars. It belonged to the Randgriz Royal Guard, Gallian soldiers specifically selected to protect the Randgriz Royal Family of Gallia, and they took their duty seriously and with pride. They were also known as the best dressed soldiers in the Gallian military, always appearing in their dress uniforms, no matter the occasion. Their uniforms was set as the same blue as the Gallian Regulars, with white stripes and golden trimmings with the same going for the pants, minus that they were the same shade of blue as the Gallian Militia uniforms. They're belt was white with a gold colored buckle that had the crest of House Randgriz on the buckle. They also wore golden epaulets and wore white gloves and polished black military boots. The helmet they wore wasn't the _Stahlhelm_ worn by the Gallian and German armies. It was the steel helmet of the Gallian Cuirassier, a Gallian cavalry division. It was a shining silver helmet with a lobster tail like back to cover the back of the neck. It had a gold colored crest that ran along their helmet from front to back and the Randgriz royal crest was emblazoned in gold as well on the front of the helmet as well, signifying the family that they have sworn to protect. Finally, for armament they had a holstered Colt 1911 pistol on the right side of the belt, along with a cutlass in it's sheathe strapped on the opposite side of the belt.

The Royal Guardsmen stopped next to the elderly man, stiffened his posture, and gave him a salute before informing him "My Lord, it's time for us to head back to Castle Randgriz. It's safer there."

"Ah yes. A pristine castle sitting in the middle of a bombed out city. That is truly a safer place," sarcastically said the elderly man as he got up from the bench and headed for the exit alongside the Guardsman.

"It's standard procedure my lord. Your niece wishes to see you. And there are several matters about the war that require your immediate attention," added the Guardsman, summing up the various duties the elderly man had to ultimately perform today.

"Any of those matters in particular that I should start with?" asked the elderly man.

"Colonel Baldren and Major Audrey Gassenarl have sent a reply to your suggestion about aborting their mission in the Ardennes. They refused once they saw your name on the message," informed the Guardsman.

"Heh. All hail, the conquering fool that is me, Wilhelm zi Britannia the second. Once the Kaiser of Germania, now Regent for Princess Cordelia as well as a man that is hated by both his home country and now the one in which he resides. Wonder what I'll be when this war is over," pondered the former Kaiser Wilhelm II "Have some of the Guardsmen set up a connection to the Gassenarl's task force in the Ardennes. I'll have a chat with them one way or another."

"Understood my Lord," responded the Guardsmen as he and Wilhelm walked out of the cemetery and stepped into the limousine waiting outside. Once the two were inside, the car sped off to the castle with all due haste.

* * *

_In the Gallian held portion of the Ardennes Forest_

_Around the same time_

Even though the Germans controlled nearly all of the Ardennes and some of the towns on the outskirts, there was still a small portion of the forest under Gallian control. It was large enough to hold a small task force of around several thousand Regulars and Militiamen. And it just got several hundred more soldiers, a full battalion of four hundred and fifty men as well as three of the newly supplied _Theimer_ heavy tanks. These belonged the task force gathered by the Gassenarl's to take the Black Prince's supply bases hidden deep within the Ardennes. They had managed to gather up the force in a relatively short time considering how the call from Fort Amaranthine was so sudden. Each soldier in this task force was armed to the teeth with guns, ammo, and grenades as they expected the Germans to put up quite a fierce and stubborn resistance in order to defend the supply bases. It would was going to be one hell of a fight. But if the Gallian Army could take out those bases, then it would go a long way in driving the Germans back on the Central Front and out of Gallia entirely.

The task force managed to gather in the middle of a large clearing amidst the dense forest that had surrounded it. The troops were readying their final preparations before they went on the march. The same was said for the Gassenarl siblings. They had rounded up the other six officers that would be on the field and commanding their troops during the fighting. One of the officers here was none other than Lieutenant Mary Read. After the Battle of Vasel, she was given new replacements for her depleted company and it's total strength had returned to about one hundred men. It still wasn't the same amount of men that she had before Vasel, it was still better than just fifty men. However, she had hoped that their men could rest for a few hours longer and gather a few more soldiers. She wasn't quite sure if they had the manpower to take on this mission. And she wasn't looking forward to leading her men on another slaughter like at the farmstead. She could only hope that whatever plan her superiors cooked up would be enough to avoid such an event.

Colonel Baldren and Major Audrey had them and their officers surround a wooden table where they had laid out a map of the Ardennes Forest with detailed notes of both Gallian and German positions in the region. Colonel Baldren pointed to several key landmarks before explaining "The Germans have every town, fort, and bridge under their control. They've established small defensive lines and trenches in some of the larger areas of the forest. Now in order for us to succeed, we'll need to avoid any unnecessary confrontation as possible on our way to the Black Prince's supply bases located just north of the city of Bastogne. So for that we'll be traveling via the side roads since the German's won't have any patrols there. Any questions?"

"Bastogne, sir? Are you sure that's where it is?" asked one of the Lieutenants, now a little worried about the mission. Bastogne was a key city in the Ardennes. It was a major city that sat on the largest set of crossroads in the region. Whomever could control the city, would ultimately control the movement of armies operating in the Ardennes. Sadly for the Gallians, it was the Germans who controlled it. They also used the city as their headquarters for the Southern Front of their war. It was more fortified than any other German position in the Ardennes. Once they attacked the supply bases, they could count on the Germans calling Bastogne for reinforcements. It would be pretty tough for the Gallians to fight off two different German armies at the same time.

"Don't worry. By the time the Germans realize their supply bases are under attack, we'll be long gone," mentioned Audrey, trying to calm their fears. This mission wasn't going to be easy but she and her brother had every confidence in the Regular's abilities and superiority to the Militia will allow them to carry on this mission.

Read spoke up next, asking "What exactly are we expecting in the terms of defenses the Germans have set up on this base?"

"Our latest Intelligence points out to a force roughly the size of ours, just less Panzers to deal with. They can only move their armor along the major roads. And we'll likely encounter light armor which helps put us on even terms in armor for once," explained Baldren. It would be a relief for many of the Lieutenants to know that at least they wouldn't be overwhelmed by the superiority of the German Panzer Corps.

Just as they were about to go further, one of the soldiers in their command tent manning the radio turned to them and reported "Colonel Baldren, Major Audrey, we've got a radio transmission coming in. It's from Randgriz."

That caught the siblings attention. If they were getting a call from Randgriz, then it must be coming from the castle. And they knew exactly the person who was on the other end of that call: Princess Cordelia's Regent, the former Kaiser of Germania Wilhelm zi Britannia II. As Regent, he was named the Supreme Commander of the Gallian Armed Forces and that meant that he was their superior. And no matter what they had to take this call or it would be a blip on their career that they would never be allowed to forget. So for not they were going to have to cut this meeting short so that they could talk to him.

"You all know your tasks. Ready your forces and prepare to leave on our signal," ordered Audrey, relieving the Lieutenants, who gave them salutes and left the tent to follow their orders. Reluctant till the end, Baldren went over to the radio that the soldier was operating on. The soldier handed him the headset, and when Baldren put it on he immediately opened the conversation with "What do you want now?"

_"Well right now I'm trying to figure out whether or not to have both you and your sister pulled from the front line and have you work in a desk job," _answered a very angry Wilhelm on the other end of the radio call.

"We're going ahead with this mission. We need to stop the Black Prince before he can do harm to Gallia and her people. And we're going no matter what you say old man," defied Baldren, not giving up in the slightest in his argument.

_"If you head out to take down my nephew and that supply base, you'll be giving the chance for him to do damage by allowing him to wipe out your entire army! I am ordering you right now: turn your soldiers around!" _corrected Wilhelm, laying out the part that he believed the two were overlooking. Of course Baldren did know about part of this. Wilhelm was the older brother to Kaiser Charles zi Britannia, Germania's 98th Kaiser who succeeded him when the Great War had ended. This made him the uncle of Lelouch vi Britannia, Germania's Black Prince. Wilhelm had heard of his nephew's tactical and strategic genius during the Border Skirmishes as they were waged throughout Europe. This meant he was well aware of the damage he could cause and had already advised the Gassenarl's to abandon their offensive. But like the rest of Gallian High Command, they simply choose to ignore him completely and follow their own decisions. And all for a specific reason.

"I don't have to take orders from a German like you. No Gallian ever should," bellowed Baldren, his tone of voice getting more and more upset as the conversation drags on. What he said about the former Kaiser was actually how man of Gallia's nobles and Generals felt about him. To them, he was an outsider, a foreigner that shouldn't be trusted. And the fact that he was a German, the same people who enslaved Gallia for over two hundred years, made him even more despised. When he was allowed to live in Gallia after his abdication of the German throne and exile from Germania, the nobility was outraged that the Randgriz family would allow the man who invaded them a life in their home. And they were even more incensed when before they passed away, they made him to be Cordelia's Regent instead of Borg or any other pure-blooded Gallian noble. And even after ten years of him ruling in Cordelia's stead, their attitude to him hadn't changed one bit.

Wilhelm however wasn't going to have any of it. With a heavy tone of authority in his voice, he proclaimed to Baldren "You_ may not like me but you will respect me. I am still the Regent and thus your superior! Turn your army around this instant. I am not-"_

Wilhelm never had the chance to finish the message. Before he could even finish his sentence, Baldren took off the headset and stormed out of the tent with Audrey, as they went to ready their forces to march upon the German supply base.

* * *

_On a side road in the Ardennes_

_10 minutes later_

The Gassenarl's strike force was already on route to the German base. They lead their way, sitting in an American supplied Jeep with one Regular driving and another manning the Gallian Maxim machine gun mounted in the back. The Gallian Maxim was their nations variant of the Maxim style machine gun that was common among Europan nations during the late 1800's and even now. It was manufactured at the National Arsenal, Gallia's arms manufacturing company, along with the rest of Gallia's firearms and armored vehicles. They fired the same 7.92 millimeter ammunition as the Gallian-M4 rifle and had a fire rate of over six hundred rounds per minute. Not as fast as the Nazis MG42 but still pretty deadly. It provided the mainstay of Gallia's machine guns and proved to be quite useful.

Trailing behind the Jeep was the Gallian armor. The three _Theimer_ heavy tanks followed first with the Gallian Light tanks following close behind. Next came the trucks carrying the infantry. Last but not least was the mounted infantry. They were essentially Lieutenant Read's company of soldiers mounted on horses like that of the cavalry. Despite the massive advancements in technology such as tanks and machine guns, most nations in Europa still retained several cavalry units, though their actual battlefield uses had been greatly reduced. Gallia was using it's cavalry for mainly non-combat purposes such as being messengers, pulling carts of supplies, and scouting. But there had been instances during this war where their cavalry had managed to take to the field in the German's rapid advance through Gallia. This produced some mixed results. Half of the time they were cut to pieces by German machine gun fire or run into Panzers. But the other half of the time they managed to catch a German infantry unit of guard and cause them to be routed. For this mission, Read's men were dragging horse drawn carts that carried the task forces supplies, machine guns, and even a couple of seventy-five millimeter field guns as well. Since speed was of the utmost importance for the Gallians in their mission, the convoy was travelling as fast as they could, making sure that they could make it in time. However, unknown to them, they were silently being watched.

Watching from a nearby hill, hiding in the dense forest and shrubbery, two German soldiers eyed the convoy through their binoculars as it moved through the Ardennes. These German soldiers were dressed completely in forest camouflage to help them blend into their surroundings. In this conflict, the German soldiers had managed to use the camouflage to their advantage against their Gallian adversaries. Since the Gallians didn't use any camouflage, it left them as bright targets for the German soldiers and made them very easy to spot. In fact, their uniforms had caused the Germans to give them the nickname _'Blauenjacken'_ or Bluecoats once translated into English. And that caused the Germans to easily identify their enemy once on patrol.

_"Sieht aus wie der Oberst hatte recht. Die Blauenjacken werden mit den Nebenstraßen. Radio die Nachricht an Oberst Isaac: Die Gallians sind auf dem Vormarsch,"_ instructed one of the German soldiers to his comrade. The second German soldier brought out their radio and quickly contacted Colonel Isaac and Lightning to report on the Gallians and where they were advancing from. They were going to need it if they were going to defeat them.

* * *

German to English translation

_Sieht aus wie der Oberst hatte recht. Die Blauenjacken werden mit den Nebenstraßen. Radio die Nachricht an Oberst Isaac: Die Gallians sind auf dem Vormarsch. _\- Looks like the Colonel was right. The Bluecoats are using the side roads. Radio the message to Colonel Isaac: The Gallians are on the march.

**I hope you guys like this chapter as much as I did. I actually had a great time writing this chapter in particular. Including the surprise that the elderly man here is in fact the former Kaiser of Germania, Wilhelm II. I got the idea from the fact that in real history, Wilhelm lived in the Netherlands after his abdication after World War One until his death. Since Gallia is made up of Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands it seemed somewhat appropriate in my opinion.**

**Another thing to point out is that what I said about the cavalry was true. Armies in Europe during World War Two did use cavalry and there are recorded instances of them fighting on the battlefield. And since Gallia is somewhat of an old fashioned country in terms of things like how things are run, I figured that they would still retain some cavalry units at their disposal during the course of the war.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	60. House Arrest and Irene Ellet

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Fort Amaranthine_

_1103 hours (11:03 am)_

Welkin drove the jeep back into the base and parked it next to the motor pool where he had it checked out. The Sergeant in charge of the motor pool walked up to him as he was getting out of the jeep. He gave a clipboard over to Welkin, having him sigh back in the jeep. After Welkin signed in his name, he gave the clipboard back to the Sergeant and left the motor pool, making his way over to the barracks. As he made his way through the base, he managed to overhear some gossip between various small groups of Militiamen and Regulars as to recent events. Somehow word had gotten out that Lelouch was in Gallia and that made many of the Fort's garrison and no doubt those serving on the front worry greatly due to the man's reputation. Welkin could see in their eyes and faces that they were scared. And they had every right to be.

But for some reason, Welkin felt that he should be the most worried out of everyone here. In the letter, Lelouch had stated that he had come to Gallia not only to break the stalemate, but to also find Welkin and eliminate him once and for all. And if it was, then Lelouch would be coming at him with everything he's got. The way he said it in the letter made it almost seem as if this was personal. And Welkin had a pretty good clue as to why. It had to do with Welkin's father and his service during the Great War. It looks like the Sins of the Father had now passed onto him.

If Welkin was going to go up against Lelouch in the future, then he would have to know everything he could about the man since there was no doubt that Lelouch already knew everything about Welkin. And there was only one man in all of Gallia who had intimate knowledge of Lelouch and how his mind worked: Squad 7's now incarcerated American Quartermaster, Jack Lawrence. Welkin was still griping with the reality that Jack is a close friend of the Prince, let alone the fact that he had hid it from him. It was a surprise that he had been arrested last night even though it shouldn't have been. His friendship with the Prince wasn't exactly something one could easily ignore. Regardless, Jack was the only person at the moment that could help Welkin. And whatever feelings Welkin had about the issue he would have to put them aside and work with Jack on coming up with some kind of plan to counter the Prince and his forces in a fight. If there was any chance of a victory against Lelouch, which would be a first for anyone, he needed Jack to tell him everything that he knew.

But first he would have to figure out where he was. Since Jack was arrested, Welkin figured that they were probably keeping him in the Fort's prison block. He would need to talk his way past the guards in order to see him. And considering the charges that Jack was being held up on, that may take a bit of work. He would have to come up with some kind of plan. He figured that his office in the Squad 7 barracks would be a great place to brainstorm for ideas. Nice and quiet, it offered an ideal spot to think this situation through. But before he even got to the door, he saw that there were Gallian Military Police armed with Gallian-M4's standing guard b y the door and patrolling the perimeter of the barracks. This startled Welkin a bit because this was the very _last_ thing that he expected to happen today. This was another on the list of crazy things that had happened in his life during the past few days, and he would bet that there were going to be a few more before this week was out.

Trying to ignore the MP's that have effectively surrounded the barracks, Welkin walked through the front door, receiving a salute from the two MP's guarding the door as he passed them. Once inside, Welkin walked into the Rec Room to find Alicia, Isara, Rosie, and Largo sitting together on one of the tables. As usual, Rosie was sitting as far from Isara as possible while Alicia and Largo didn't seem to care about her choice on the outside but were saying something different on the outside. Perhaps they would shed some light on why their barracks had now become the most guarded building in Fort Amaranthine.

"Am I the only one curious as to the patrols and armed guards happening outside or is this some figment of my imagination?" inquired Welkin.

"Ask Jack. He's the reason they're here," responded Alicia, pointing to a corner of the room that Welkin had his back to. He looked to see none other than Jack, leaning nonchalant on the couch, drinking a bottle of coke, and with two armed Gallian MP's standing on either side of him. Jack simply looked at Welkin with a grin on his face like he didn't have a care in the world, even though he was just arrested yesterday. And that was truly the oddest thing that could happen today. A guy who was just incarcerated less than half a day ago was sitting on his ass, drinking a soda, and acting like nothing was wrong besides the armed guards all over the outside of the barracks and two standing right next to him. Yet another example of the curiosity and mystery that made up the man that was Jack Lawrence.

"Suddenly, I find myself with even more questions than answers," commented Welkin after a deep sigh.

Jack simply took a sip from his Coke bottle and replied "I may be smiling on the outside but on the inside I'm shouting 'someone get me out of this hell!' Damon's placed me under house arrest. I can't leave this building unless these guys get orders to move me. So take it as you see it."

Rosie simply rolled her eyes at Jack's joking behavior. Though there were times that he was a great person to have around and a good person to have in a fight, his personality and attitude was simply downright annoying to her since this was him 24/7. But ever since his little outburst last night, she and a lot of other members of the squad were beginning to have second thoughts about their perceptions of Jack that they've had over the past few days. Perhaps they were a bit harsh on how they reacted on the news given by Comescu outside of Mullow. Though considering what that information was one could hardly argue that their initial reactions were pretty much what any normal person would react to. But perhaps it was time for them to admit something that they had been talking about a few hours ago.

Alicia was the first one to speak out saying "Hey um, Jack...can we tell you something?"

"If it's another round of 'Go to hell you traitorous bastard!' then no thank you. I had more than enough of it, not to mention the fact that half the Gallian military wants me strung up on a noose here. But if you do want to tell me something, I'd prefer it if we didn't have _'Tweedledee'_ and _'Tweedledum'_ here listening to a confessions. Leave that to Father Hendricks," coldly responded Jack, still somewhat bitter over the events of last night, and also referring to his little MP Honor Guard standing right next to him. Whatever they had to say to him, Jack certainly didn't want these guys listening in on it.

Welkin noticed it as well. Almost on instinct, he looked at the soldiers and signaled for them to leave. And since the MP's were of lower rank than Welkin, they had no choice to obey his orders. And they did so without question, marching off to the door and outside with the rest of the MP's that were all over the grounds directly outside the barracks. After all, they had the place completely surrounded, it wasn't like Jack or anyone else was going to sneak away. Once they heard the door close, it signaled to the others that it was safe for them to talk.

"Look. We just...we want to apologize okay?" pleaded Alicia.

Jack, who was taken aback by their sudden proposal, almost chocked on a sip of his Coke before responding back "I'm sorry I didn't quite catch that. What did you just say to me?"

Largo reluctantly began explaining their situation "We're sorry, okay. So is the rest of the squad...well, most of them anyway. We wouldn't blame you if-"

Before he could even finish his statement, if was Jack's turn to deliver a surprise. He said to Largo and the others plain and simple, with regret evident in his voice "No...no I'm the one who should be apologizing here."

The others were simply left completely shocked by Jack's statement. _'Did he just say that he's sorry? Why was he sorry,'_ thought everyone in the room. They were confused as to why Jack was apologizing to them considering all that was going on. He was the one who was ostracized from the squad, he was the one who was arrested by the MP's, and he was the one who's in major trouble now. All of this happened because of the Squad's treatment of him. And now here he was, apologizing to them as if he was the one who truly was at fault here. Granted he is friends with one of the most powerful members of the Nazi Royal family but that didn't mean that he himself had done something wrong. So why on earth was he sorry?

"Look, I should have told you guys about Lelouch. I just didn't think it would happen so fast and end up like this. But know this: I never sold out anyone. I never had and I never will. But right now it looks like none of that matters anymore. I'm doomed," said a disheartened Jack as he wondered what fate the Gallian High Command had in store for him. He always had this strange streak of luck that managed to get him out of even the worst of situations throughout his life. But it seemed that after eighteen years of close escapes, his luck had finally run out.

Welkin placed a hand on Jack's shoulder for reassurance and said to him "You'll get out of this. I know you. You always seem to get out of these crazy situations no matter how unlikely it seems."

"That may be harder than you think. It looks like Damon and half the Generals in Gallia are looking to lynch me. I'm going to be in a court martial tomorrow," explained Jack as he got up from his seat and walked over to the window, leaning against it with a grim look upon his face.

"A court martial? You mean they actually plan on prosecuting you?" asked a curious Largo.

"Apparently they managed to scrape the bottom of the barrel and got a bunch of evidence against me. Damon's got a lot of connections in high places if he got that stuff," commented Jack, outlaying all that was up against him.

"Huh? 'Connections'? What do you mean by that?" inquired Alicia, wondering what Jack was implying by this.

After a few moments of silence in order to gather his thoughts before admitting "Let's just say that I may have gone on a few missions that are pretty much labeled as 'Classified', placed in folder, and buried in the deepest darkest storage building in Washington D.C. It pretty much sums up the reason as to why governments keep things secret and hidden from the public eye."

"Ooh, now that sounds interesting. Why don't you tell me some more," said a voice that had come out of nowhere. Everyone looked to the source of the voice and saw a twenty five year old woman standing in the doorway. She was a pretty woman with short blonde hair, violet eyes, and a nice pair of glasses. Her outfit consisted of a buttoned up, plain white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, brown leather gloves, a brown belt with suspenders, olive green pants, and brown shoes. However, the feature of her outfit that stood out the most was her distinctive plaid socks that matched the newsboy cap on her head. As for accessories, she wore a satchel and around her neck was the strap for a small portable camera for making films, one of the first of it's kind. Judging by her attire, the squad pretty much figured out that she was a reporters for a newspapers or radio station. The question they were wondering _now_ was which one in particular?

"Um, who are you exactly?" inquired Welkin.

"The question here is 'who are _you_?' And I figure that you're Lieutenant Welkin Gunther. Am I correct?" asked the woman, confident that she was right.

"Yes. That's me," truthfully answered Welkin, though unsure where she was going with this.

He got his answer when the woman introduced herself "The name's Irene Ellet. I'm the war correspondent for GBS radio."

"Wait a minute. You're one of the reporters who covered the Border Skirmishes. Couple of guys and gals at the university used to listen to your reports Every time they came in," noted Jack, the woman's name all to recognizable to him. He had heard of her before. She was one of the youngest reporters to date, and one of the newest reporters on the scene of this huge mess known as Europa. She began her career by helping to cover the Border Skirmishes from 1930, at the tender age of twenty, and continued right up until the Nazis invaded Gallia, forcing her to come back. Ever since then, she's been covering the war as much as any other news station at the time. Her reports were a bit more accurate since she was right here in the thick of the conflict instead of far away like in England, France, or America.

Ellet was known for getting dangerously close to the fighting in order to get a good story, even to the point where she would injure her self on the process. Hell, she had already managed to injure herself multiple times. Not exactly something that most reporters would try and do. Mainly they would try and stay out of the line of fire as they record the conflict. It takes a special breed of person to willingly risk their life to get a good story, and Ellet was a genuine example of that.

"That's me alright. I take it you're Lawrence then? The one getting a court-martial?" asked Ellet, getting right to the point.

Jack, knowing where her seemingly innocent question was going and instantly his mod returned to normal. Reluctant, he told Ellet "Yes. My name is Jack Lawrence. And no...I am not a German spy. I never was, nor will I ever be so will for once will people just stop asking me that?"

"I'll take that as a 'yes' then," acknowledged Ellet.

"Hold on a second. How do you know about his court martial?" asked Largo, taking note of her question earlier.

"From today's paper," she sad as she pulled out a rolled up newspaper from her satchel and handing it over to Largo. Everyone else in the room gathered around him as he unrolled the newspaper and looked at today's headline on the front page. The newspaper was the _Gallian Herald_, a well known newspaper in Gallia that was read by millions. Though it said it was a publicly owned paper, in reality it was under the influence of the aristocracy controlled Gallian government as of the beginning of this war. If the newspaper was going to put out a story about the government or the war effort that was perceived as negative, even though it was true, they would order the paper to alter the story completely to make it into even better propaganda. A true example of the aristocrats idea of 'free speech' for what it was worth. And what they had the _Gallian Herald_ say today wasn't something that made Jack's situation any better than it already was.

_"Traitor in the Militia"_

_"As the Gallian military desperately tries to hole their ground against the juggernaut war machine if the Imperial Germanian Reich, their poison and treachery has spread into our ranks. It appears that one of the Militia has thrown in his lot and is now a spy for the Nazis, leaking military secrets that had lead to our recent defeats. An American volunteer with the Militia is revealed to have a personal connection with the infamous Black Prince of Germania, Lelouch vi Britannia._

_The American in question is a Corporal of the Gallian Militia's Squad 7, who assisted the Regular Army in recapturing Vasel from the Nazi Army. He came to Randgriz after his tour of service with the American Army during their war with the Soviet Union from 1932 to 1934 and served with distinction in the campaign. But his collaboration with the Reich appears to go farther than during his service in the war. Recent evidence has arrived, showing that he had become close friends with the Prince during his youth and swore allegiance to the Nazi cause sometime before his service. Ever since then, he had been leaking critical military information on both our nation and his. _

_His activities were unveiled by Gallian Military Intelligence and he was arrested last night by the authorities. He is to be tried tomorrow for the crimes he has committed. When asked about the situation, General Damon, who headed the investigation, informed us 'This arrest is a testament to the Gallian Regulars work as they comb our ranks for those who seek to divide us and shows the Militia's weakness in doing the same. With this man's arrest and prosecution, we have removed a great threat in our fight against the Nazi Empire. Without their precious agent, they'll be powerless to stand against my forces as I lead our forces to driving them out of Gallia. Soon, justice will prevail and this spy will face the firing squad.'_

_No word yet on the spies response to the charges against him as he is being held under close watch in Fort Amaranthine by the Gallian Military Police. His trial will take place at exactly 6:00 am at the Randgriz High Courthouse. Any other information about the trial is being kept a closely guarded secret for security reasons but word has reached us that this particular agent may have been the head of a German spy ring and that the Generals hope that he'll give up his agents before his trial and execution. For more on this story, turn to page five for additional updates."_

Jack had finally reached his breaking point. He was so upset now that he was barely able to contain the anger that was dwelling inside of him. He took a few steps away from the group and without any warning at all he grabbed a nearby table, violently flipped it over, and screamed in a fit of rage and frustration. His actions stunned the others in the room as they stared at the man with all the hatred and anger that was inside of him finally being let out due to the course of these events. Now, Jack had completely blown his top off at his unbelievable luck.

"I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE IT! THE GUY IS DRAGGING MY REPUTATION THROUGH THE MUD, MAKING ME A GODDAMN SCAPEGOAT SO THAT HE CAN BOOST HIS OWN LOUSY POPULARITY! I SWEAR TO GOD IF I GET OFF FROM THIS, I AM GOING TO MAKE THAT MAN'S LIFE SO MISERABLE THAT HE'S GOING TO BE BEGGING ME TO PUT _HIM_ IN FRONT OF THE FIRING SQUAD!" screamed Jack at the top of his extremely pissed off lungs.

_"This was one of the major down points of my life. Here I was in a foreign country, trying to help said nation fight against an empire bent on world domination, been accused of being a Nazi spy several times in the past month, but this...this took the cake. I was being scapegoated as a Nazi by a pompous, incompetent, despicable, and corrupt windbag General who couldn't win a battle even if it meant sacrificing his whole damned army in the process. I could see at this point what this was all about. Ever since the war began the Generals of High Command had been leading the Gallian Military on a steady retreat. This has caused the people's faith in them, as well as the popularity of the aristocratic controlled government downhill very fast. When word spread throughout the Gallian Army about my friendship with Lelouch, they saw a chance to bring back support among the people by creating a scapegoat to blame for all their failures. So far it seemed like their plan was working. I had become the monster that kept the civilians up at night while the nobles and the Generals were proclaimed as the heroes that brought down a spy ring. Yet another reason why I hate politics: too much backstabbing and underhanded deals like this one." - Jack Lawrence_

Everyone could understand how angry and frustrated Jack was. If they were in the same position as he was they would probably feel the same as he did. Though they didn't have much experience in what it was like when one would be arrested and put on trial on false or trumped up charges. But there was one thing that they were sure about. They were done doubting Jack. The man would go to the end of the earth to help them, so they should do the same for him.

To help calm Jack's worries, Welkin walked up to him, placed a hand on his shoulder and said to him "Hey. This isn't over yet. Whatever happens next, I'll be right there to help you. We all will. Right guys?"

Rosie, Largo, Alicia, and Isara all gave a nod in acknowledgement. It surprised Jack that they were all willing to stand beside him in this. If this went down badly for Jack, it was likely that they all would be thrown in prisons as accessories to espionage...if that was even a thing. And that meant that they would end up spending the rest of their lives confined in a neatly furnished cell with foreseeable chance of escape. Something that not a lot of people would be willing to risk for the sake of helping a friend in trouble. If that was so, then perhaps they hadn't completely given up hope on him then. Perhaps, just perhaps...things may look up for Jack. If these guys were that willing to risk this all just for him, then he would accept it and fight this to the bloody end. After all, Jackson Alexander Lawrence didn't go down without a fight. He never had in the past, and he wasn't going to start now.

"Alright. Let's get to work then," announced Jack with a grin and a renewed sense of vigor washing over him as his confidence has once again been restored. Now it was time to plan their offensive. He and Welkin took up chairs and sat alongside the others as they set about planning their strategy on what to do for the trial. They would need to build up a lot of ammunition to counter the prosecution during the trial.

Welkin was the one to begin this discussion by saying "Well first we need to know if there's anything wrong about your past that they may use against you. Anything in particular that you did during the war that may help them?"

"Well...none that I can think of at the top of my head," answered Jack after a few moments of pondering.

"Do you even have a lawyer or something?" asked Largo, remembering that critical piece of info. Every trial for any kind of case needed a defense attorney for the defendant so that he or she could advocate their innocence and try to convince the jury to let the defendant go. The thought of the trial made Largo curious if they court had even managed to assign him a lawyer for this sham of a trial.

"Yeah. Apparently our good Captain Varrot volunteered to be my lawyer when they arrested me last night," answered Jack.

This surprised Largo a bit as he responded to Jack's statement with "Elle? Why did she take your case?"

"I asked her the same question. I remember that because she never gave me the damn answer," explained Jack.

Before Jack could even answer the question, the sound of Rosie trying to contain a chuckle filled the air. It happened almost immediately after Largo had finished his sentence. Apparently there was obviously something in there that was pretty funny to her...though the others were quite curious as to why. As she slowly regained her composure, she looked over the the surprised Largo and asked him almost jokingly "Did you just call the Captain 'Elle' just now?"

Rosie continued to chuckled as Largo explained "I've known her for a long time before she made Captain. We fought together in the Great War. I've called her that ever since I've met her."

Largo and Captain Eleanor Varrot had a long history of working together in the Militia. They first met in 1914 when the war officially began. The two of them were placed in the same Militia platoon along with Frederic, a childhood friend of Largo. In the beginning, Largo and Varrot weren't exactly on the best of terms. But after fighting alongside each other in the trenches, they gradually became good friends. They served together throughout the rest of the war, even winning a few medals in the process due to their teamwork. However, not all were so lucky. Largo's friend Frederic was killed in 1918, just a few weeks before the armistice was declared, ending the war. After the war, they both stayed on with the Militia since by Gallian law some Militia units remain active at peacetime to act as a peacekeeping force in Gallia. Largo stayed on as a Sergeant while Varrot slowly climbed up the ranks until she was made the commander of the Militia's Third Regiment. This was their second war, and hopefully the last one that they would end up fighting in their lifetime.

"Shouldn't we be focusing more on how to help Jack here?" inquired Isara, wondering if they could get back on topic.

"She has a point," remarked Alicia. Before she said her piece, she noticed that something was off. It took her a few moments to realize what it was but eventually it just clicked in her head when she asked "Um, where's Ellet?"

Everyone suddenly looked around but Ellet was no longer in the Rec Room. It appears that she had left while they were talking. Either she left to explore their barracks or simply left their barracks entirely. Whatever the answer was, they didn't really pay much attention to it as they simply decided to return to their previous conversation.

* * *

While the others were busy, Ellet had decided to explore a bit of their barracks, hoping to find some juicy info about it's members that she could use in her news report. Though her original assignment was to simply cover the trial, she was quite intrigued by the idea of doing a piece on Welkin Gunther and the rising stars that were Squad 7. This was the story she had been hoping to get. Though, she did wondered about the subject of the trial anyway. When she was given the job of reporting for the trial, she was only told the basics about him: He was an American volunteer with the Gallian Militia who was secretly a close friend of the Prince and was suspected of being a spy for the Nazi Empire. Other than that she didn't get much information about him. Her first meeting with him a few minutes ago wasn't exactly like what she expected. She expected a Nazi spy to me more intimidating, more fanatical. But this guy...was nothing like that. He just seemed like some guy who was angry about being charged with a crime he supposedly didn't do. Ellet couldn't tell if he was telling the truth, or was just a good liar.

Another thing that was so suspicious about this trial was the amount of secrecy. The press was trying to keep this from making it out of their borders. Radios were limited the range of their broadcasts, newspapers weren't mentioning the defendants name, everything was being censored. Apparently they didn't want it getting out of Gallia that they were prosecuting a suspected Nazi spy. In her head she kept asking the same question over and over again: '_What was so damn important that this was all being kept under wraps?'. _Just another question that she just didn't know the answer to. But thankfully, her job meant that finding answers should be no problem if she knew where to look: his room.

As she walked toward the Corporal's room, she came across another room that managed to catch her attention. The room was a small office that had also been converted into a living quarters. There were boxes overstuffed with files all over the floor and the bed, printings and notes pinned to the wall as well, and other random documents and notes were scattered all over the floor, most likely having been dismissed. Apparently the person inside was working on one hell of a project one hell of a project.

Currently the room had one occupant who was having a heated argument with someone on the other end of his phone call. He was sitting on his desk, completely ignoring that she was here, devoting his time to the call. Apparently whoever he was talking to had to be very important indeed.

"Look! I need to talk to the Secretary! It's important!" cried Alistair, making the situation very clear. With Jack's arrest and imminent court-martial and execution, he was doing his part to try and save the sorry kid's ass. Thanks to Jack he managed to do a few interviews with his father during his run for the Secretary of State. He had pretty long and lengthy conversations with him that ultimately helped sway enough votes to get Jack's father elected as the Secretary of State. And since Jack trusted only Alistair when it came to things that would end up in the newspaper, it seemed to be enough to convince his father to trust him as well. Plus, Alistair believed that Jack's father was the one person that could help him. His father held great sway in the Roosevelt administration and if they found out that one of America's heroes was being led to his execution like a lamb to slaughter, they would threaten Gallia greatly in order to get him released. And that was exactly what Alistair wanted...if he could first get a hold of his father.

_"I'm sorry Mr. Alistair, but the Secretary is in an important meeting with the British Prime Minister. You'll have to wait until he's finished,"_ said the female voice on the other line that Alistair recognized as the Secretary of State's assistant. Apparently, Jack's father was currently in London, working on relations with the Atlantic Federation and in particular, Great Britain and her empire.

"Look, I get that he's busy. What he does is important to the nation and all, but this is important to him! It involves his son!" claimed Alistair, trying to get her to see some reason. Surely if he mentioned Jack then that would be enough to get the Secretary's attention.

_"His son? You'll have to be more specific Mr. Alistair. The Secretary has three sons here,"_ explained the assistant, wanting the specifics here.

"It's about fucking Jackson Alexander Lawrence here! You know, the Hero of Anchorage, Medal of Honor recipient?! That one!" shrilled Alistair, getting very impatient with how much he had to explain himself in this rather urgent call. Ellet's eyes widened a bit in surprise by the information the man in front of her just revealed. Apparently the defendant of the trial was not only a veteran of the Soviet-American War, but he was apparently a hero as well as a recipient of America's prestigious Medal of Honor. Apparently her suspicions were beginning to be correct. There was more to this man than there originally was.

_"Jack?...Look, if he needs to talk to his father then I can understand. But unfortunately he can't talk to his father. Perhaps he can call him tomorrow?"_ suggested the assistant.

"By tomorrow, Jack will be put in front of a Gallian firing squad!" shouted Alistair, noting the seriousness of the situation Jack was in.

_"A..a firing squad? Wh-what are you saying?"_ questioned the assistant, now actually feeling pretty worried about what she was hearing.

"Just tell the Secretary that if he doesn't call me back after his little meeting, HIS SON IS GOING TO BE COMING HOME IN A PINE BOX!" yelled Alistair at the top of his lungs as he hung up the phone in complete frustration. Alistair was a veteran reporter, having done dozens, perhaps over a hundred stories. But he preferred writing about the battlefield than that of politics. Too him it was just too full of red tape and backroom deals, making it nearly impossible to write an effective article about what happened really. It was then that he finally noticed Ellet was in the room. He looked to see that she was standing right in front of him, hands on her hips, and her eyebrows arched, implying that she was waiting to talk.

"Sorry. Calls with politicians never go according to plan," apologized Alistair.

Ellet's posture relaxed and she replied "It's okay. Comes with our professions I suppose. If you don't mind me asking but...who are you exactly?

Alistair warmly extended his hand in a handshake which Ellet accepted before explaining "I'm Squad 7's recently assigned War Correspondent. Names Alistair Koller, of the New York Times."

Ellet's reaction shifted to complete surprise and shock as her eyes widened and her cheeks blushed. Here she was shaking hands with _the_ Alistair Koller. She had read many of his articles during battles in the Border Skirmishes, China, and the Soviet-American War. She had become something of an avid reader of his stories, having grown quite interested in his work and him in particular. She had always wanted to meet him, but she never expected it to be like this. Still in shock, she managed to blurt out one word, "Wow."

Alistair simply chuckled before replying "Well that's a reaction I've never gotten before."

Ellet quickly recovered her composure and quickly explained "Sorry. It's just I'm a big fan of your work. That's all."

"Ah, I see. Now that you know who I am, the question is who are you?" inquired Koller, turning the conversation over to her.

"Oh, I'm Irene Ellet. War correspondent for the GBS radio station," answered Ellet honestly.

Alistair nodded his head with a smile. He had heard of Irene Ellet just as much as she had heard a lot about him. When Ellet said she was a fan of his work, the feeling was mutual with Alistair for he was an admirer of her work. What he admired about her was her passion and drive. Her zeal that caused her to seek out a story no matter what the risks were. It reminded him a bit of himself when he first started off as a reporter. Maybe his actions had some kind of influence upon her when she started her career as well. But either way, he was glad to meet her. Though, there was one last question about her that he wanted to ask.

"Not trying to pry anything out of you or anything, but what brings you to our humble barracks?" asked Alistair with a bit of a joking tone near the end of his sentence.

Ellet simply responded "I'm covering the trial of one Jackson Alexander Lawrence. I'm to be at his court martial and write a story about it for GBS to broadcast the day after tomorrow. But before I do that, I'd like to know some more about the man."

Alistair raised an eyebrow in suspicion before questioning her "Really? You don't know anything about him? Nothing at all?"

"Just a little from what my editor told me and from what I picked up during your phone call rant," answered Ellet.

Alistair simply let out a sigh before saying "Alright then. Take a seat. It's a long story."

* * *

**Sorry for how long it took to write this chapter. This upcoming Friday is the beginning of my Spring Break. I'll be trying to work on the next chapter whenever I have the time. Sadly I'll be spending time with my family and doing homework for most of the time so it may be difficult. But I will try and update as soon as I can.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	61. New Yet Old Weaponry

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Later that night_

Squad 7 once again turned in for the night back in their barracks, one of the few peaceful nights that they've gotten since the air raid. Despite the fact that Jack's criminal status and the fact that he was under house arrest meant that their barracks had turned into a makeshift prison for him, they still managed to make the best of their situation thanks to some of Welkin's ingenuity. He managed to gather them together in the Rec Room for a few games of card and drinks, non-alcoholic drinks of course since they were still on duty thanks to the war and all. For a few hours, it was as if nothing was going on. The war, Jack's trial, all the death and despair of this wretched conflict just seemed to fade away through the drinks and the laughter. Squad 7 laughed, they sang, some even danced a bit. And it seemed like nothing was going to take away their fun.

Welkin decided not to partake in their festivities, but he stayed in the Rec Room anyway to keep an eye of them and make sure they didn't do anything foolish. Taking a sip of his Coke bottle, he looked over to see Jack playing his third round of cards with Cezary, Rosie, Karl, and Knute. They'd been at that for almost two hours and once again Rosie won every game. At this rate, she would have all three of these guys completely broke within the next half hour. But at least everyone had gotten over the fact of Jack being childhood friends with a Nazi Prince. At least here they had managed to get past their little prejudices and got accepted him again as a good friend. It was good to see the squad finally managing to get along with each other...for the most part at least when one would consider those who didn't like the Darcsens in their unit. At least Welkin had managed to unite them in order to work together. That alone meant something. Hopefully this would allow them to grow more as a team throughout the course of the war. At least that's what Welkin thought.

"Hey Welkin, something on your mind?" asked Alicia, leaning up against the wall next to Welkin, thinking he needed some company.

"Just looking at how everyone seems to be getting along for the most part," answered Welkin, taking another sip of his Coke Bottle.

Alicia let out a small chuckle at his remark and looked to see what Welkin was looking at. Rosie just played the winning hand yet again and the other three players were griping about their loss and each one dealt with it differently. Cezary rubbed his face in the sheer disbelief in losing three times in a row to Rosie. Jack laughed a little and suggested to Rosie that he should bring he back to the U.S. where she could make a fortune doing this in Las Vegas. Lastly, Knute simply exclaimed at Rosie, aghast as how he couldn't comprehend how on earth she could beat them so many times. Rosie just ignored them as she raked in her winnings, grinning like an idiot as she just got a whole lot richer. But her moment of victory would have to be cut short for now, as they heard the front door to their barracks open up and close. Worried that whoever was coming in were MP's, they quickly hid the money out of concern that they might end up adding illegal gambling to Jack's list of charges as well.

Thankfully it wasn't the MP's that came through the door. However the person who did wasn't exactly someone they were _hoping_ to see coming into their barracks. That person was the Gallian Regular Army Drill Sergeant for the soldiers in Fort Amaranthine, Sergeant Calvaro Rodriguez. The very mention of the man's name was enough to scare the daylights out of the rookies who would end up being trained here at the base. He was placed in charge of training all the Militia and Regular recruits that passed through those gates, and both feared him equally for the strict methods in which he carried out his job. And unlike most Regular officers, he didn't treat the Regular recruits more fairly than the Militia. He gave each and every recruit the same level of treatment regardless of which branch they served. He was also an impressive man to behold as well. For a man of forty-eight years, he was still surprisingly physically fit. He was tall, muscular, had his brown hair in a military cut and combed back, as well as a short and thin mustache. His most distinguishing feature was the eye patch which covered his left eye which he lost during the Great War. He served in the Regular Army during the Great War first as a rifleman but was soon transferred as an anti-tankman in the conflicts latter years, becoming quite proficient in this assigned role. In fact, it was his achievements during the Great War that landed him the position of being the trainer here at Fort Amaranthine.

The members of Squad 7 had already gone through his intense training regimes so they already had a healthy dose of fear and respect when it came to the man. So when they saw him coming into the room carrying two large duffel bags they instantly got up on their feet and gave him a crisp salute, well everyone except for Jack and Welkin at least. Calvaro immediately placed the duffel bags upon the main wooden table and set about inspecting the Seventh platoon after putting them at ease. He surveyed them with a deathly glare from his only eye carefully and keenly, inspecting each and every soldier he saw throughout the room. However when he got to Jack, he simply saw him laying on the couch, relaxed as can be. Jack merely looked at him nonchalantly and responded with a sly little wave of hand "Hey, how ya doing?"

"Are you blind or something Corporal?!" bellowed Rodriguez, staring intently at Jack.

"Was that a trick question or something considering you only have one eye?" asked Jack jokingly, gesturing to the left eye where Calvaro's eye patch was. This did little to amuse the Sergeant and he moved toward Jack, grabbed him by the duster, and forcibly hoisted him onto his feet.

With Jack still in his grip, Rodriguez gave him another verbal beating by shouting at the top of his lungs "DO I LOOK LIKE I'M IN THE MOOD FOR A LAUGH CORPORAL?! WELL I'M NOT! I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE GETTING A COURT-MARTIAL TOMORROW! YOU ARE STILL A CORPORAL AND YOU'LL FOLLOW MY ORDERS UNTIL THEY DISCHARGE YOU, IMPRISON YOU, OR PUT YOU IN FRONT OF A FIRING SQUAD! UNTIL THEN, WHEN I TELL YOU TO STAND AT ATTENTION YOU WILL STAND AT ATTENTION! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!"

Jack, after wiping the spit off his face from the Sergeant's tirade simply responded back nonchalantly with "By this time tomorrow I'm most likely going to be put in front of a firing squad so right now I don't give a damn about what you think."

"Let him go Sergeant. I think he's got enough to worry about at the moment," ordered Welkin. The Sergeant complied without hesitation as he released Jack from his grip and marched over to Welkin. Despite Welkin being much younger than Rodriguez, and not having nearly a tenth of the battle experience, Welkin was still a superior officer and Rodriguez had to obey his orders. This was the first time he did however take an order from Welkin. And no doubt he would probably take more orders from him later on when it came to the training of his troops.

"I understand that these men are under your command Lieutenant, but the Corporal still needs to learn respect," commented Rodriguez, nodding his head to Jack who was dusting off his uniform.

"Noted. But until then, lay off him. Now is there something you needed to tell me other than inspect my troops?" inquired Welkin, wondering if there was some other reason to his little visit.

Rodriguez simply nodded and answered "Indeed I do. Command's issuing new weapons to the Regulars and the Militia. I'm here to inform you about it and to show you what you'll be receiving. The Gassenarl's task force in the Ardennes has already received these and the rest of the Gallian forces are following suit. Now it's your turn to get these."

_'Then that would explain the duffel bags,'_ thought Welkin. If they were going to be getting new weapons then this was good news indeed. And it was quite clear that the squad was quite thrilled about the idea as well. As they helped clear off a few tables and placed them next to each other for Sergeant Rodriguez to place the two duffel bags containing the new weapons they would soon receive. Each of the squad was quite interested as to what kind of weapons they were going to receive. Perhaps it was something that the Americans were helping to ship over to them as aid in their war effort. Jack was the one who most likely thought that. Maybe it was just a new batch of weapons that the Research and Development Department had managed to create. But considering their shortage of resources and lack of fund for development at the moment that was very unlikely. So whatever it was, it was all a complete mystery to them.

However, their hopes were pretty much dashed when they saw what kind of weapons were really in those duffel bags. The weapons looked older than anything that was being used in their army by today's standards. They had nicks and marks on them to show that many had been in combat at some point. And it became clear to some of these soldiers exactly what these weapons were. These were the same weapons that were issued to the Gallian Regulars and Militia during the Great War almost twenty years ago. All of the weapons presented to them had been phased out of service for their current firearms years before the German invasion. After they were phased out, they were placed in storage and were labeled as 'Surplus Weaponry'. At this point they were wondering how any of this could even be remotely called 'new weaponry'.

"These are our new weapons? No offense Sarge, but I was expecting something a little more impressive," noted Ted.

"Translation: 'How in the hell is any of this new?'. It looks like half of this stuff is just battered old junk," complained Jack as he grabbed one of the weapons, a bolt-action rifle, and looked it over.

"Aw come off it Jack. I used this stuff during the Great War. These pieces of 'battered old junk' saved my life countless times," said Largo, countering Jack.

Welkin looked to Largo and suggested "Well since you know a lot about these guns, why don't you help explain them to us then?"

Largo nodded his head in agreement and started his explanations with "Jack, that rifle in your hands is the Gallian Mauser 1889. It served as our standard rifle during the Great War before the Gallian-M4 replaced it. It carries five 7.92mm rounds and has about the same range as rifles today. You can even put a sniper scope on that thing and turn it into a sniper rifle."

Jack looked over the rifle as he turned it over a few times in his hands, making sure that he got as much detail out of the thing. He played Largo's words in his head as he surveyed the weapon. To Jack it seemed like a solid design, and despite the wear over the years, it seemed pretty serviceable for use in the field. Jack finished his little inspection of the gun by commenting "Well, most of the German Army is armed with Kar98k's and those are bolt-action rifles like this one. I guess with this it gives us solid footing with the Germans I suppose."

Isara was the next to be curious about the weapons. She grabbed the old sub-machine gun on the table which Jack instantly recognized, commenting in an unsurprising tone "Ah, yes. The German MP-18 sub-machine gun. Quite a technological marvel...back in 1918."

The MP-18 was the first sub-machine gun made for active combat. It was created by the Germans in the final year of the Great War and distributed among their shock troops during their final offensives in the war. The weapon is much like many of the time period with the butt stock and the area covering the receiver made of wood and the rest made of metal. The barrel had a shroud covering it with small holes drilled into the shroud to help cool the barrel. The one key characteristic was that the thirty-two round magazine, carrying 9mm bullets, was inserted horizontally, requiring the wielder to hold the magazine when he fired the weapon. The Germans manufactured this weapon in droves to arm their forces, finding it very useful in close range combat and in clearing out trenches. After the Treaty of Versailles ended the conflict, large stocks of the weapons were handed over to the Gallian military where they served for several more years among the Gallians before they were eventually phased out for the Mags-M4. However in Germania they stayed in service until the development of the MP-40 which replaced it completely. Now the weapon merely served as a relic in museums or used by various different armies such as the Germans and the Gallians in the service as training weapons for their recruits.

"Maybe. But with a little tweaking, these could take the magazines from the German's MP-40's," noted Isara, seeing the challenge of the claim she made.

"So we can use the Germans own ammo against them. Nice thinking kiddo," cheered Catherine, patting Isara on the head.

The next few weapons were picked up by Alicia and Welkin. Alicia had her hands on the Viper semi automatic pistol, a Gallian made version of the iconic German Mauser C96 'Broom handle' pistol. It was an almost exact copy except for a few alterations made by it's Gallian designers. It's grip was more solid and was a copy of the styled grip on revolvers. It's barrel was also slightly longer and there was a wooden stock attached to the underside of the gun barrel. The barrel and stock were long enough that a user could place their free hand around the barrel and use it as some kind of short rifle. Another major change was the size of the magazine and the caliber of the bullets it carried. It's magazine held six .50 caliber bullets. The caliber the Viper used was much larger than any other weapon of the time period in which it was created at the turn of the century. It required extensive training by it's users because the recoil from a caliber of that size was likely to cause injury to the wrist for the most novice of shooters. That's why they had the wooden stock for the underside of the barel. It was to help stabilize the gun, but it also made it much more cumbersome. The Gallians soon adopted the American Colt 1911 after the war as it was much easier for one to wield.

The weapon in Welkin's hands was simply the Gallian Model 1917 Anti-Armor rifle. This weapon was simply a rifle with a large caliber barrel. The rifle was a bolt-action variant, and the large caliber of the rifle required it to have a bipod so that the weapon was stable enough to be fired. The rifle fired a single 13mm armor piercing round. During the Great War, this was a useful weapon as it was able to penetrate the very thin armor of the tanks used in the conflict. This made it a very useful tool in knocking out tanks in an era where there was very little in the means to do so. One could also put a sniper scope on this weapon and they could convert an anti-tank weapon into a sniper rifle so powerful it could be classified as overkill by most people. However, as the years went by, and armies began to make the tank armor much thicker over the years it became imminent that the Anti-Armor rifles were no longer effective in combating them. These weapons too could produce injury to non-experienced wielders. The sheer force of the recoil given off the round would travel down the buttstock and could dislocate the shooters shoulder. This led to it being replaced by the Lancaar-M4 Anti-Tank lance for today's Lancers.

There were also two other weapons that no one in the squad had picked up at all. The first one was the infamous Lewis light machine gun. It was in widespread use among the nations that fought against Germania in the Great War. It's ninety-seven round pan magazine proved very useful. The Gallians used both the regular version of the weapon and the air-cooled version used on early biplane fighters. It was so reliable and favored by Gallian units that many still used them even after the Gallian military adopted the BAR. Finally, the one weapon they didn't pick up was a double-barreled shotgun. Normally a weapon used mainly by civilians, it didn't have much use in combat up to today. It was however used extensively during the great war as a way to help clear out enemy trenches. Soldiers sawed of the barrel to make the weapon easier to use in the cramped quarters of the trenches as well as to make it more maneuverable. And apparently now they were so desperate that they were now arming their soldiers with this yet again.

"So we got an oversized pistol, an equally oversized rifle, an old machine gun, and a shotgun that we could have gotten when we weren't in the Militia? What are we supposed to do with all these? Make the Germans laugh themselves to death?" questioned Rosie, completely incredulous about the weapons they were all receiving.

"It could be worse," noted Melville.

Jack, looked at him with an unbelieving look and asked him while pointing at the weapons on the table "How in all that is good and mighty get worse than this?"

Ted spoke for his friend and answered jokingly "They could be arming us with sticks and stones."

"I think that would have been an improvement over this stuff," commented Alicia as she put the pistol down back onto the table. However, despite their negative attitudes towards the weapons, Welkin was a bit more understanding of the situation than his comrades did. He could see that this was a desperate time for Gallia. And as the saying goes, 'Desperate times call for desperate measures'. They had to make do with what they had and currently _this_ was all that they had at the moment. So for now, they were going to have to divide up their current weapons with these surplus weapons and try to figure out which ones work for each member of the squad. There was no other choice.

"Either way, we'll have to use them. We don't have much of a choice in the matter. We can't be picky in a war like this," informed Welkin, much to the Squad's dismay.

"How exactly do you plan we do that?" asked a curious Largo.

"Simple: we improvise," answered Welkin, which made Jack chuckled a bit. The phrase 'I don't plan, I improvise' was Jack's signature catchphrase. He had mentioned that this was how he lived his life and everything he did was done according to this belief. Jack mentioned it to Welkin multiple times over the period that the two of them knew each other. Now here was Welkin using Jack's own words to explain his actions. Apparently the two of them had come full circle.

"Well, I'd love to be here and talk but I'm going to my bunk. The last day of my life is about to begin tomorrow," announced Jack before he headed off to his bunk for a good night's sleep. He was going to need it for his court martial tomorrow. It could spell his end one way or another.

* * *

_Meanwhile, In Alistair's Bunk/Office_

Inside, Alistair had been regaling his vast array of knowledge on Jack to Ellet. Considering how little she knew about him, Alistair had to start all the way to the beginning, from when he first met Jack back in 1932 after he had recovered from his injuries in the Siege of Anchorage. To be honest, even though she was listening to what she was telling her, Ellet was actually more intrigued about the fact she was holding this discussion with the one and only Alistair Koller. This guy was a legend to her. For years she had hoped to meet this guy in person and get to share their experiences. In fact, she was so excited that she had to use all her strength to not freak out like a fan girl when she found out it was him that she was talking to. This was the moment she had long awaited: the chance to talk to her idol.

"And that's pretty much the whole story, give or take a few lines I said" finished Alistair.

"Wow, never thought you'd have that long of a story," commented Ellet with a chuckle.

Raising an eyebrow, Alistair leaned forward and inquired to Ellet "Am I really that dull then?"

Ellet's cheeks immediately blushed and her eyes widened as she just suddenly realized what she had implied to him. She waved her hands furiously as she tried to explain "That's not what I meant! I-I was just saying that a man of your experience has lots of stories to tell and I...I"

Alistair chuckled a bit at her nervousness before explaining "Relax. I was just messing with you."

Ellet immediately calmed down before busting up laughing. And her laughter was so contagious that Alistair suddenly joined her in laughter. Ellet had never laughed so hard in her life before but now here she was clutching her sides because they were hurting from all of the laughter and Alistair was laughing so hard that his eyes were beginning to water. It wasn't that the joke Alistair did was very funny, it was something else entirely but she couldn't put a finger on what it was. All she could tell at the moment was that she and Alistair couldn't stop laughing so hard about a seemingly juvenile joke. This continued for a few minutes before they managed to calm down a bit and their breathing had finally returned to normal. By then, Alistair opened his desk, and pulled out a bottle of bourbon and two shot glasses. As he poured a glass for both of them, he told her honestly "You know, you're really a good person. One of the few outside of this squad that I've met since I came here."

"Thanks. Most people just don't seem to like reporters. They look at us like we're about to publish their deepest, darkest secrets in front of the whole world to see," explained Ellet as she took her shot glass and drank it in one gulp.

"Amen to that," agreed Alistair. Their job wasn't an easy one. Not many people were willing to speak to reporters about the truth. They normally considered them to be nosy people who tended to invade people's private lives in order for them to get a good story. That may be true for some reporters but that certainly wasn't the case for the two of them. Then again, although Alistair knew why he wanted to become a reporter, he didn't know Ellet's reasons. Aside from the stories about her that he's read, he never quite understood _her_ reasons.

"By the way, why did you become a reporter? We don't lead that much of a glamorous life. What made you decide to lead this life?" asked Alistair as sincerely as he could after downing a shot of bourbon from his glass.

Ellet's face suddenly grew more somber when Alistair's question finally sunk in. After downing another shot she set about explaining her tale with "When I was growing up, I had an older brother. I just idolized him. I wanted to be like him. About two years after the Great War had ended, he joined a charity organization that traveled Europa helping to rebuild various areas that were destroyed during the war. My brother and I managed to keep in touch with each other. This went on for a year until one day...until one day I got a letter telling me that he had been killed."

Hearing that last sentence made Alistair halt from downing a shot. As he looked upon Ellet, he noticed the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes. Ellet must be in a lot of emotional pain as she is bringing up these memories that no doubt repressed for a while. Alistair didn't grow up with any siblings, so he had no real sense of the relationship between a brother and a sister like Ellet here did. Even so, he could tell that she must have felt that her heart was torn right out of her chest and buried in the ground when she received the news that he was killed. And all the man was trying to do was help those who had everything taken from them because of the war.

"I later wrote to the organization asking what had happened. All that I got was a simple reply saying what I already knew: he was killed in a battle. The didn't even have the courtesy to tell me how my own brother died. I was his family, I deserved to know...but they didn't care. I kept writing and writing to them, hoping that they would just give me a damn answer. But every answer was just the same and not enlightening. So I managed to get some research done and I found out the truth for myself. It turns out that the area my brother was working on became a sight for one of the battles during the Border Skirmishes. He was killed in a crossfire between German and French troops. The organization figured that it was better of id I didn't know the details on how my brother died because they thought I couldn't handle it. I just couldn't believe that they would hide the truth from me like that. So from that day on I made a promise to myself. I told myself that I would find the truth, no matter what it took. And after I read a few news stories that you wrote on the Chinese Civil War, I knew what I would do. That's how I became a reporter: because you and my brother inspired me," explained Ellet.

As she was describing her tale, the tears that were welling up in her face began to streak down her cheeks. This was the one thing about her past that she just didn't like having to dredge back up, especially at a time like this. She was in front of the man who inspired her to become a reporter in the first place and here she was, crying her eyes out. But what surprised her was when she looked to him and saw that he was handing her a handkerchief that he must have pulled out of his pocket or from a drawer in his desk. Ellet was actually so dumbstruck by his generosity that it took her a few seconds to actually take the handkerchief and use it to wipe off the tears in her eyes and the marks they made from streaking down their face.

As she wiped away the tears, Alistair began his piece of the conversation by saying "I'm sorry. I don't know what it feels like to lose a brother or sister like that. But for that alone you have my condolences. You know...I've seen so much death in my life, I'm afraid that I've almost become all used to it. I've seen lots of good people thrown into the fire and many never come back. And even then, I've seen governments in Europa and in Asia who twist the truth to suit their own aims. Sometimes they'd change a few details here and there, and sometimes they would just twist it all completely and turn it into propaganda. It just disgusted me how they would just lie like that just to make themselves sound much better in the papers. The reason I became a reporter was because I wanted to bring the unaltered truth to the people, no matter how ugly it may seem. That's the code I live by. And I plan on following it till the day I die."

Ellet couldn't help but smile a bit at his words. To know that he sympathized with her reasons for becoming a reporter was truly an honor for Ellet. He knew just as well she did the lengths that certain parties such as governments would go to hide the truth that they wouldn't want getting out because if it did then it would just ruin their so called precious reputation. No matter what era of mankind, in past, present, and no doubt the future as well, there would be people who would go to very extreme lengths to protect their reputation. It was up to people like her and Alistair to keep the public informed about the truth. Though they may step on some toes in their pursuits, they would seek the truth no matter what kind of danger they went through or people that they pissed off along the way.

Suddenly, the phone on Alistair's desk began to ring and Alistair picked it up. Once he picked it up, he answered whomever was on the line with "Alistair Koller. War Reporter for the New York Times. Who is this?"

_"Someone who is expecting a damn good answer for why I had to exit these meetings early Mr. Koller," _answered the gruff and intimidating voice that Alistair quickly recognized as that belonging to Arron Lawrence, the Secretary of State of the United States of America, and the one and only father of Jackson Alexander Lawrence.

"Mr. Secretary! Sir, I'm glad you called. This is really urgent sir," said Alistair, surprised that the Secretary of State had even bothered to call him personally, and by the fact that things were going as he had hoped.

_"Well then just explain it to me. My assistant wouldn't tell me what it was but I could tell she was terrified. Just tell me what it is so that we can get this over with," _demanded Arron.

"Well let me put it like this: if you don't get your ass on the next plane to Gallia, your son Jack is going to be riddled with bullets from a Gallian firing squad!" yelled Alistair, getting right to the point of the situation at hand.

* * *

_Meanwhile, At Aslone Fortress_

_Same Time_

As it was once again the dead of night, Lelouch, standing in the command center of Fort Aslone began to initiate the next phase of his master plan. He already had Aada and her men put on Gallian uniforms to act the part of the fort's defenders. His men on the radio managed to convince Gallian High Command that the fortress was still in Gallian control and they took the bait so perfectly one could claim that they were imbeciles plain and simple. Lelouch had much of his forces stay behind the German trench lines for most of the day, to keep up the appearances. But now that it was night, they could now conduct the true part of Lelouch's plan. As his men checked the radar and saw that there was no incoming aircraft or any in the area for that matter, the guards opened up the gates that led to the road into the forest, then to the Graz Bridges, and finally into Randgriz itself.

Through the gate came a large convoy of trucks, armored vehicles, half-tracks, and more as they came out of the fort. Once they had reached a set distance away from the fort, they were met by a small group of German soldiers clad in Gallian uniforms. They directed the convoy to enter the left side of the forest through a hidden opening they had created. Once the convoy turns and heads into the forest in single file, they come upon the predetermined position that they were instructed to be at and park their vehicles. The crew and soldiers quickly exit from their vehicles and set up camp and camouflage nets to hide their vehicles from any Gallian planes that may fly over head.

These events continued like this as convoy after convoy of German vehicles carry supplies and troops moved out of the fort and into the forest. This would continue throughout the night and was planned to continue every night until the next phase of the Prince's plan could be executed. And as Lelouch watched his plans being fulfilled with such precision, his face produced a devil like smile as he thought to himself _"Everything is proceeding as I have planned."_

* * *

**Phew! This took longer than I thought. You guys have no idea how long this took to write. But anyway I believe I have some things I'd like to mention.**

**I've bassd the Gallian Mauser 1889 on a real life gun. It's basically the Belgian Mauser 1889. It's basically the same gun, I just changed the name a bit. Look up a picture of it.**

**Secondly about the Viper pistol, it's the same gun they use in Valkyria Chronicles 2. I made the .50 caliber thing for it as a way to explain why the gun only has six shots.**

**Other than that that's all I got to share about it. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	62. The Ardennes Massacre

**Note: I've tweaked what colonies the Nazis control and I've tweaked the numbers of the Gassenarl's task force. Just to let you know.**

* * *

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_April 19, 1935_

_Assan Restaurant, Ghirlandaio City_

_2128 hours (9:28 pm)_

The _Assan_ Restaurant of Ghirlandaio City, one of the finest restaurants within the city. It served the finest delicacies from all over Europe. Foods and the finest of wines from nations such as France, Spain, Romania, Greece, Russia, even from Germania itself, it it was made there then _Assan_ was serving it. Before the war, the nobles of Gallia would often come here every night to feast on the fine foods and wines that _Assan_ had available. However, now that the Germans had now taken over and installed their rule upon the city the nobles and military officers of Gallia had been replaced with the nobles and military officers of _Germania_. For them, they believed that this was now once again a German city and they were simply enjoying a quick dinner in a city within one of their provinces. So now, many from the Reich would come all the way here to feast and feel safe since the war was far away from where they were. On this particular night however, the restaurant was now going to have an especially important guest, at least in the German government.

A small convoy of three vehicles drove through the streets of Ghirlandaio City, lit only by the lights of the streetlamps. A black German limo with two German motorcycles with the sidecar addition and machine gun were situated with one at the front and one at the rear of the limo to act as it's security detail. The limo flew two small German flags on to small and thin poles positioned near the front of the car. It signified that the limo was carrying a high level official within the Nazi Empire. And the sight of his limo and armed escorts was enough to attract the wandering eyes of the city inhabitants as the trio of vehicles passed them by on the way to the restaurant. The cars stopped just outside of the front entrance. The soldiers in the motorcycles and sidecars parked their vehicles as they got out, their rifles slung over their shoulders. The soldiers all took up positions by the door, presenting their rifles and standing at attention as the officials honor guard. One of the guards opened the backseat passenger door to the limo and out came the man they were escorting.

Out of his car came the illustrious and well-known Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the forty-two year old Field Marshal of the German military, Head of the _Luftwaffe_, and Germania's ace-of-aces during the Great War. His brown hair, now in a military cut, had several grey hairs in it show his age. His Field Marshals uniform was adorned with the various medals that he had been awarded throughout his years of service as a pilot for the _Luftwaffe_ and then as it commanding officer. His epaulets were golden colored and the uniform itself was professionally tailored, making it appear much nicer than a standard uniform. Over his uniform he wore a black leather trench coat which was buttoned up and covered up the uniform. And he still kept himself in shape even though he wasn't flying a plane anymore. He would leave that for his daughter Emilia to do these days.

And the good Baron wasn't traveling alone. Out of the car came his wife, the Baroness Käte Otersdorf von Richthofen. She was a former nurse in the German Medical Corps during the Great War when she first met Manfred when the war began in 1914. They became good friends but their relationship soon became passionately romantic quite quickly. The couple were soon married in 1915, a full year after the day that they had first met. The couple soon had their daughter Emilia a year later and she became the couple's pride and joy. For her, she had her normally long brown hair tied up in a bun on the back of her head that helped reveal her beautiful face and emerald green eyes. For dinner tonight she was wearing a shimmering and strapless blue dress.

Käte wrapped her arm around her husbands and the two of them walked into the restaurant. When they entered, they could see the place was already busy tonight as it was nearly packed to the brim with German nobles, military officers, and government officials, with waiters and waitresses maneuvering back and forth bringing food to the customers and taking their orders. The room main dining room was circular and separated into two different levels with the inside of the circular room lowered slightly into the ground, and the outer circle above. The lower floor was covered in tables while the outer circle had booths. Both Manfred and Käte searched the crowd looking for a particular person they came here to see. After almost half a minute of searching, they finally found her. Sitting in one of the tables on the lower floor was their daughter Emilia, in her Luftwaffe dress uniform, siting idly as she awaited her parents until she finally noticed them.

Getting up from her seat, she quickly walked up to greet her parents who embraced her in a tight hug. They hadn't seen their daughter for little over two months, hoping everyday that she would come back alive. No family member of a soldier wanted to get the notice that their loved one had been killed in combat. But when they saw their daughter, their fears were replaced with joy and happiness. After they were finished with the hug, Käte started asking these questions to Emilia, hoping that she was okay. She asked "It's so good to see you darling? Are you all right? Anything broken? Is there-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down honey. We've been here for less than five minutes and you're already panicking," noted Richthofen, trying to get his wife to calm down a bit.

"Mom, I'm fine. You don't need to worry," assured Emilia.

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm just glad to see my little girl alive," said Käte, hugging her daughter again, but this time much tighter.

However, the hug was causing Emilia to have a little trouble breathing. In a bid to have her mother release her from her iron grip, she managed to blurt out the words "Mom...crushing lungs...need oxygen...please let go."

And just like that, her mother let's go, apologizing once more to her daughter. Emilia soon lead them to their table. It wasn't very large but it was just big enough for the three of them to enjoy their first dinner together as a family in a while. Here, there was no work to keep them apart. Here, they could finally talk to each other about other things. The moment they sat down, Richthofen noticed the Emilia was wearing the Iron Cross she gave her around her neck.

"I'll admit, I'm surprised that you still have that," commented Richthofen, pointing to the Iron Cross.

"It's like a good luck charm. The first combat mission I went on I wore this. Ever since then I never go on a mission without this. Plus it helps remind me of you guys," explained Emilia, smiling as she explains the story. Her explanation only helped to bring a smile to her parents faces. Instantly she felt like she wasn't in the military, that this was just a regular family dinner. Deep inside, Emilia longed to return to this. To return back to their family home in the Polish province, relaxing and enjoying her life with her family. God knows she missed them terribly whenever she went on a tour of duty.

"Well, that makes me feel a bit better now. How many kills is it now? Three hundred and something?" asked a curious Käte, wondering the current status of her daughter's exploits.

"Three hundred and thirty-five to be exact. Ground targets don't count in this game," answered Emilia, saying it with pride.

It resulted in her mother giving off a chuckle which drew the attention of her father. As he looked at her laughing, he was curious as to what part of her claim was so funny. He flat out asked her "Is there something funny that I don't see here?"

"It's just interesting to see our daughter has managed to shoot down hundreds more planes than you did in your career," explained Käte, managing to contain their laughter.

Richthofen feigned being insulted and said mockingly "Oh, you wound me."

"Mom, come on. Dad's still more known by pilots than me. Just because I shot down more planes doesn't mean I'm better than him," corrected Emilia. While it was true that Emilia was the highest scoring ace in history, her achievement seemed to pale in comparison to that of her father, the infamous 'Red Baron' of the Great War. No matter how hard she would try, there was no escaping the shadow her father cast over her. It's not that it bothered her, it's just that there were times where they didn't compare her victories to those of her father. Just once would be nice at least. But it's not like she didn't despise her father for it, in fact she greatly respected her father. He was the reason that she wanted to become a pilot in the first place.

"Enough, let's not worry about business, here its just us enjoying dinner," announced Richthofen, wanting to get to why they were here in the first place but managed to whisper to Emilia right after "But afterwards you'll tell me how your new toy performed. I eagerly await the results."

"Got it dad," she whispered back as the waitress appeared and Emilia prepared to enjoy her little reunion with her parents before they would have to return to Germania. Tonight, it wouldn't be a meeting between a Captain, a Field Marshal, and his wife. Tonight, it would just be a family enjoying a meal together.

* * *

_April 20, 1935_

_Deep in the Ardennes Forest, Gassenarl Task Force_

_1017 hours (10:17 am)_

After a night of rest for the troops, hidden away from any substantial Nazi garrisons or patrols, the Gassenarl's task force was once again on the move through the Ardennes as they made their way to the German supply bases. They traveled in the same formation that they used when they first set off. By now, they were nearing the final waypoint along their route. Once they passed it, it would mean a completely straight shot to the bases. That is if they managed to not run into any German forces along the way. This final waypoint was a small village that was built beside this bridge built upon a wide and deep ditch that was filled by a river. The town had been abandoned when the Germans invaded and started shelling it. Hopefully, the Germans also decided not to occupy the town. If they did, they couldn't afford to be caught in a prolonged fight or try and find an alternative route. They needed to cross this bridge if their mission was going to be a success.

As the tanks and armored vehicles moved forward along the road, Read and her mounted infantry rode right behind them on their horses as some of their horses were towing small carts carrying some of their heavier weapons such as heavy machine guns, mortars, and some extra ammo for the troops. The Gassenarls had made them the auxiliaries, a word meaning support soldiers, for their assault upon the supply base. They would essentially set up the machine guns and mortars and provide fire support for the main Gallian forces as they made their assault. Being on the sidelines wasn't exactly what Read's men wanted to be but Mary didn't care where they were as long as she wasn't the one who would lead them into another trap. Even though she had learned from her mistake thanks to Welkin, she was still a little unsure about herself and was quite glad she wasn't at the head of the column.

For her, she was simply enjoying the ride upon her horse. This was something that she was rather quite used to in fact. She took a look at her Sergeant, John Carter and saw that he was having some difficulty adjusting to the saddle. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this probably was the first time that he ever rode a horse. It was almost funny to see Carter so uncomfortable. Mary let out a small giggle at what she was seeing and asked coyly "Hanging in there John?"

Carter grunted a bit as he readjusted himself before replying "When I joined the Army, they didn't say anything about having to ride a horse. How come you're so good at it?"

"I came from a noble family remember? We have a ranch on our grounds. I used to ride horses every day. After the first few rides you get used to it. Doing it now feels like I'm back home," mentioned Read, remembering her life back at her families estate before the war had begun. She could just picture it in her mind. The grounds, the mansion, the smell of the freshly cut grass filling the air. Even this far from home, she felt as if it was all around her like she was there now. Oh how she missed it. She would give anything to be back home right now and just be as far away from this war as she could be. But she also had a duty to her men. She was going to help Gallia finish this war, help drive the Germans out once and for all, and then she could go back home to her family.

"Hey, you know. This is actually kind of cool. What of we make ourselves a kind of cavalry unit," suggested Carter, the romanticism of them as cavalry coming into his mind. It seemed kind of epic in his head, the sight of proud Gallians charging towards the Germans on their noble steeds with their swords drawn. The sight of the German troops fleeing for their lives only to get cut down by the cavalry the eventually catches up to them. However, the same could not be said however for Mary Read.

"Yeah, we charge at them until we run into machine guns and _they_ cut us down. Not a very pleasant way to die," contradicted Mary, pointing out a scenario of what'll happen.

"Oh come on. At least think about it," pleaded Carter, hoping she could reconsider. Read thought about if for a moment in her head, just to humor him. She had to admit that the idea was a bit enticing. But at this point in time, the age of cavalry was pretty much nearing it's end. It had been ever since the Great War had ended and tanks began taking their place. Any cavalry units still in use were just used as transportation, scouting, and other non-combat duties. It's been rare to see a cavalry charge since the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919. But considering Gallia's situation now, it was probably likely that there may be a cavalry charge or two before the war ends. Perhaps it was doable.

"Okay then, maybe we can do it," said Read. Of course, that started off something that made Mary regret her choice. Suddenly, Carter started giving off certain names that they could have to name their little band. And every name he gave was just annoying her even more as she kept giving him the same answer for each of his suggestions.

"How about this: _'Mary's Marauders'_?"

"No"

"How about '_Read's Raiders'?_"

"No."

"How about-"

"How about you just shut the hell up before I decide to shoot you?"

Before they could continue this conversation any further, the convoy stopped as they approached the entrance into the town. It was abandoned by it's inhabitants during the German's rapid advance and seizure of the Adrennes Forest during the first few weeks of their invasion. It didn't stop the Germans from shelling the town, and many of the buildings had been damaged by direct hits from Ragnite infused artillery shells. Hopefully when they shelled the town, the Germans managed to miss the bridge in the process. At least that way the task force could still use the bridge and move on. If not, they were simply screwed. The Gassenarl siblings in their jeep which lead the convoy looked upon the town wit a suspicious eye. This was the perfect place for an ambush. The Germans could be hiding in the ruins just waiting for the Gallians to just march in and become lambs to the slaughter. They would have to clear the town and check it for any hostiles before they could proceed. It would take time but they had no other choice if they were going to get through safely.

Audrey looked to the convoy behind her and signaled for one of the trucks to unload their troops and have them report to her. Soon, ten Gallian regulars armed with Gallian Mauser 1889's marched up to the jeep, ready to receive their orders. Baldren looked to them and ordered "Sergeant, you and your men do a quick sweep of the town. Make sure that there are no surprise's waiting for us before we can continue our advance."

"On it Colonel," replied the Sergeant as he and his men split into teams of two and went about searching the town for any signs of Germans present in the area. The town wasn't very large so the search wouldn't take very long. The teams searched every building, room, store, alleyway, and more in their search. However, after a half hour search of the town, the only living thing they found in this town were some rats and cockroaches, no German soldiers at all. They returned back to the jeep and reported their discoveries back to the Gassenarl siblings who seemed quite surprised.

"Huh, strange. I could have sword the Germans would have had forces in the town," commented Audrey, still wondering how such a thing was possible.

"Well the town doesn't have much strategic value. Perhaps they believed that sending troops to occupy it would be a waste of men?" suggested Baldren, the idea of why having just popped into his head. His words were true. The town didn't hold any real strategic value to either Gallia or the Germans. To any competent commander it would seem meaningless to send soldiers to defend a small little town that really had no benefits to either side of the conflict. However, this did benefit the Gassenarl's as they would be able to move their forces through the town without any real difficulty. Before the soldiers returned to their truck so that the rest of the convoy could resume, Baldren whispered orders for the Sergeant to convey to Lieutenant Mary Read's mounted infantry at the convoy's rear. And when he got his orders he rushed over to the rear until he approached Mary's troops.

"What is it soldier?" asked Read, wondering what this was about.

The soldier got right to the point and conveyed "The Colonel wants you and your men to set up position in the forest about fifty yards from the outskirts of the city and set up the mortars. He has a feeling that we may run into German soldiers as we cross the bridge. He wants to have artillery support set up as soon as possible before the rest of the convoy heads out."

Lieutenant Read nodded her head and responded "Acknowledged, we'll set up shop immediately."

And with that, Mary Read took her hundred horse mounted soldiers and the equipment they were trailing into the forces and found a good enough clearing to set up. They dismounted from their horses and unhooked them from the carts. As they took out the four wooden crates and opened them, they pulled out the mortars and set them up upon the ground. These mortars were used by the Gallians since the Great War and were still in use by the Gallian military as it's usefulness had not dwindled not one bit. They fired 75mm high explosive shells that detonated on contact once they hit the ground. They would prove very useful against Nazi infantry...not so well against armored vehicles though. And as they set up the mortars, Mary had her forces unload the Gallian Maxim heavy machine guns and placed them along with the rest of her troops in defensive positions to protect the mortars in case the German soldiers had managed to break through and try to knock them out. Once her men were were finally in position, she radioed over to the Gassenarl's convoy and said "Lieutenant Mary Read to Colonel Baldren and Major Audrey Gassenarl, mortars are in position and ready at your disposal."

"Good work Lieutenant, stand by and await further orders," commented Baldren as he turned off the radio when he and his sister got back into their Jeep and signaled for their forces to move out. Soon, the remaining three hundred and fifty men of the unit steamed forward as they made their way through the bombed out town. As they slowly made their way through the town, they kept a close eye out for any kind of trap that the Sergeant and his unit may have missed. Those fears went aside when they approached the bridge.

It was a stone bridge wide enough and strong enough to support the _Theimer_ heavy tanks that would be crossing it. The small river it ran over was too wide and deep for the tanks to move across without getting stuck. There were however some small stretches of shallow paths about ankle deep in water that would allow infantry to pass around the bridge and into the town. On the other side of the bridge there was a small clearing that they could hold so that Read and her forces could rejoin them. Almost immediately the Gassenarl's halted the convoy and sent out one of their _Theimer_ heavy tanks as well as two trucks over the bridge as an advance party to hold and secure the area. The tank drove first and took up position at on the road at the edge of the forest so there he could serve as a roadblock for the Gallian infantry. The two trucks unloaded their two squads of infantry totaling twenty four men and women. They began to take positions on the forest outskirts by using whatever solid they could use as cover. The Gassenarl's were going to send in the rest of their forces before they spotted something coming down the road towards them.

A few hundred yards away, coming straight towards them, was a large convoy of German soldiers and vehicles numbering at least twice their size. At the head of that German convoy was a _Jagdtiger_. Perhaps the most heavily armored tank in the Nazi's Panzer Divisions, along with the most rare, it was a 71 tonne tank destroyer based upon the modified chassis of a King Tiger tank. It's frontal armor was about ten inches thick which made it practically impenetrable to pretty much all anti-tank weaponry. All sides of the tank were sloped, making it's armor even more tough to pierce. This meant that it's only real weakness was the glowing Ragnite radiator in the rear of the Panzer. It's gun was just as intimidating. Housed in a fixed and sloped turret, the main cannon of this monster was a 122 millimeter Ragnacannon. It also had a single hull mounted MG42 machine gun to protect the vehicle from enemy infantry it came across. These tanks were a terrifying sight but the Germans had less than fifty of these at the moment and they were spread throughout the Nazi Empire at various postings. The one leading the convoy was about the only _Jagdtiger_ in Gallia.

Following right behind the tank were about a dozen half-tracks filled to the brim with soldiers. And there were small lines of soldiers, five in each row, flanking the _Jagdtiger_ and the half-tracks as security. These German soldiers were like the rest of their forces within the Ardennes forest. Their standard field-grey uniforms were now given a forest camouflage covering to help them blend in. The same went to their helmets and field caps, where they placed a canvas covering with the same kind of camouflage over it. This made them much more adept to woodland combat than their Gallian counterparts and less likely to be spotted. They marched alongside their vehicles in a single file line, weapons ready in case they ran into trouble. and right now they were right about two as at the same time that the Gallians spotted the German troops approaching, the Germans caught sight of the Gallian tank sitting idly on the road.

From the other side of the river, the Gassenarl's could only stare in surprise and mentally curse themselves for their bad luck. They were making good progress in staying away from the German Army so far which had surprised them. But here they were on the final stretch before the supply base, and they had just so happened to march into a large German column of vehicles and infantry heading right for them. Judging by what they brought to the fight along with how ready the German troops seemed at the moment, the two siblings could only surmise that the Germans had been tipped off about their presence in the Ardennes and had sent these soldiers to try and take them out. It was clear now, their operation was blown.

Standing through the main turret hatch of the _Jagdtiger_, Colonel Alexander Isaac lead the German convoy straight towards the Gallians. And as he looks upon the Gallian forces that stand before him and his men, he can only smile in satisfaction for he knows just how this will end: With him and his forces victorious, and Prince Lelouch's plan would be secured. Without a moment to spare, he barked orders into his headphones "Fire!"

Not a minute to soon, the _Jagdtiger's_ main cannon opens fire and the shell streaks forward toward the Gallian forces. It misses the _Theimer_ tank by inches and continues streaming until it impacts one of the buildings. The blast from the hit sent debris flying all over the place, with the bigger chunks landing on the top of the other two _Theimer_ tanks as well as the hood of a few of their trucks. The other smaller pieces fell onto any Gallian infantry who had exited their trucks as well as the Gassenarl siblings who were in their Jeep. They all covered themselves and hit the deck but thankfully no one was injured, but they were pretty shaken up from the blast.

It took the Gassenarls' less than a second to regain their composure and start giving out orders. Like it or not they were now pulled into this fight, they would have no choice but to fight off the Germans so that they would be able to continue no matter what. Baldren was the one who sounded off the first Gallian orders of the battle by saying "Get those soldiers back across the river and into this town! Set up defensive positions and cover all entrances they can use! They want a fight so we're going to show them how Gallians fight!"

"Aye aye, Colonel!" replied one of the soldiers as the rest of The Gallian task force sprung into action to repel the German attack. The soldiers unloaded from their trucks, some going into buildings while others took up positions on the street where it provided adequate cover. The two _Theimer_ tanks still in town backed up to find more defensive positions in the streets alongside the small unit of Gallian soldiers quickly retreated across the bridge to rejoin the main group. They wouldn't last long if they stayed where they were. Their best bet was to get back across the bridge and into the town to help out the defenders there.

The soldiers managed to quickly cross back across the bridge but the same could not be said for the _Theimer_ tank that had accompanied them. Tanks tended to move slower backwards then forward and this large behemoth of a Gallian tank was slowly making it's way back to the bridge, firing it's main cannon at the _Jagdtiger_ in an attempt to slow it down. The shells simply bounced off the very thick frontal hall and barely even dented it. The Gallian tank kept firing, hoping for one of it's shots to miraculously hit one of the tank treads to stop it from moving or hit the gun mantle to disable the gun completely. But every shot it fired, either missed the Panzer completely or just struck the sloped frontal armor doing very little damage. Before it even made it halfway to the bridge, Isaac ordered the crew to fire another shot, this time at the Gallian tank. The crew adjusted the Ragnacannon until it was lined up dead center with the enemy armor. Once the cannon was lined up and the gun was loaded, the _Jagdtiger_ let out another shell as it flew through the air at a high velocity.

The shell struck dead on, hitting the tank dead center. The large 122 millimeter shell easily pierced the three inch armored plating and exploded inside the tank. The force of the blast was so immense that it completely destroyed the frontal portion of the vehicle in a bright blue explosion that sent searing metal in all directions. Upon seeing the smoldering ruin of the tank, the German forces could only let out a cheer that they had managed to spill the first blood of this battle. Now it was their turn to keep up the momentum by taking this fight into the town. In a classic Wehrmacht maneuver, they were going to hit the enemy from three different directions. And with that tactic set, Isaac looked to the soldiers guarding the convoy on both sides for this task. Looking to the troops from left, right, and behind in that order, he ordered _"Ihr Männer nehmt den linken Weg über den Fluss! Ihr da, nehmt den rechten Weg! Der Rest von euch kommt mit mir! Wir werden in der Mitte einen Pfad für Lightning freimachen!"_

_"Ihr habt den Colonel gehört, Jungs! Heute werden wir ein paar Blaujacken töten!"_ exclaimed one of the German Sergeants as they moved into position. The soldiers on either side of the convoy headed into their side of the forest and made their way towards the two shallow, ankle deep fords located on either side of the bridge which would allow them rapid access across the river to attack the sides of the town. The German column of half-tracks filled with soldiers would be led by him in going up the center through the bridge and become the mighty hammer of this assault. Maneuvering around the wreck of the Gallian tank, they made their way to the bridge just as their forces began crossing the shallow fords to flank the town.

Unfortunately the Gallians had set up machine gun teams in the buildings overlooking the crossings and were more than ready to mow them down as they approached. On the left crossing, the German forces immediately found themselves under fire from the machine gun fire of two Lewis machine guns coming from the windows of a second story building. From up on their vantage point, the Gallians managed to kill about fifteen of the German soldiers before the rest managed to take cover inside of a shallow ditch that ran beside a low stone wall which helped protect them from the hail of bullets. a few Germans managed to stick their heads out and fire a few pot shots from their Kar98k's or MP-40's to try and knock out the gunners but to no luck as he machine guns would just turn on them and either cut them down or the Germans would just duck back down to avoid being hit. If the Germans didn't get through those guns, then they wouldn't be able to advance any further into the town than the stone wall they were hiding behind. Time to call in the heavy weaponry for this job.

The German officer looked to his men and shouted over the rattling of the Gallian machine guns _"Holt die Panzerschrecks her!"_

The Panzerschreck was the German's second main anti-tank weapon in service within the _Wehrmacht, _but was made in lesser numbers than the Panzerfaust due to the latter's greater simplicity in production. It was a simply a lightweight metal tube that fired an 88 millimeter rocket warhead at enemy armor with anti-tank rockets and soft targets with explosive rockets. However it still had the same range as other lances and it's shorter length made it much easier to use in cramped quarters. The weapon had an exhaust vent at the rear of the weapon for the expelling gasses of the rocket warhead to be expelled from upon firing. It was also from this rear of the tube was where the rocket was inserted to be fired. This however meant that no one could stand behind the weapon as they may get burned somewhat from the back blast. The weapon had a blast shield attached to the weapon as some protection for the head of the one firing this weapon with a small slot cut through to help aim the weapon. This weapon was one deadly weapon when in the hands of a _Wehrmacht_ soldier and no tank, bunker, or building would be safe from them.

Two soldiers armed with the Panzerschreck crawled along the wall getting as close as they could to fire on the machine gunners on the second floor. Once they were in position they each took a rocket from their backpack and loaded it into the Panzerschreck. They waited for the machine guns to reload, which would give the Germans a small window of opportunity to take them out before they opened fire again. If they popped out now, they would be cut down within a hail of gunfire. After twenty-three more seconds of waiting, their moment came as they suddenly popped up, took their aim, and pulled the triggers on their weapons.

Two rockets shot out almost simultaneously, the smoke and heat from the firing rocket blasted out the back. One of the rockets flew into the building wall directly beneath one of the windows the machine gunners were using, and the other flew through the window. The high explosive rockets detonated, practically wiping out the second floor of the building while damaging the third and first floors as well. As the debris settled upon the ground, the German soldiers hurdled over the stone wall and rushed into the town, not even looking to see if those machine gunners were dead. They didn't have to. No living thing could have survived an explosion like that. And they didn't have time to worry about a few dead Gallian Bluecoats. They had several hundred more to deal with within the town.

* * *

Back at the bridge, the Gassenarl's, along with a few Gallian soldiers, watched from behind a turned over truck as the German convoy began to cross the bridge not far from their current position. The convoy was currently heading to cross the bridge with the _Jagdtiger_ leading the line. The anti-tank lances that the Gallians wielded didn't have the power to knock out that monster unless they were behind it and struck at the Ragnite radiator. And the amount of German troops supporting it meant that it would not be easy to do as they would be spotted before they ever got close. They needed something more to take it out. And they had a pretty good idea for what to do. Having one of the soldiers open a radio channel to Lieutenant Read's men they would bring mortar fire down upon the German convoy as it crossed the bridge, halting their main advance.

"Get Lieutenant Read to bring the sky crashing upon these invaders!" cried out Baldren as the soldier finished setting up the link.

The Gallian Regular nodded his head in acknowledgement and talked into the radio "Lieutenant Read! Come in! The Colonel is requesting artillery support! Danger close, I repeat, Danger close!"

_"Lieutenant Mary Read reporting in. Need target location," _said Read almost immediately.

"Location: South of your current position, approximately six hundred meters, target Bravo-Romeo-India-Delta-Golf-Echo! HE shells on target!" relayed the Regular in military code to her so that she could accurately get the shells on target without hitting her own side in the process. This is because the bridge wasn't that far away from where the Gassenarl siblings and some of their soldiers were positioned. If her men were off by a single degree in their firing angle, then they would end up the victims of friendly fire. And with the order to fire given, now all they had to do was simply wait for the fireworks and pray to the Valkyrur that Read's troops manage to stay on target.

As the _Jagdtiger_ approached the bridge, the whistling noise of incoming mortar shells began to fill the air. Then, a series of eight small explosions, two from each mortar in Read's company, fell in rapid succession upon the ground as they tried to target the German convoy. The eight shells were separated into volleys of two with four shots in each salvo. The shells in the first salvo had one shell explode in the river, two hitting the road near the Gallian forces. and the last one striking the bridge right in the middle, leaving a small crater and several big cracks emanating from it. The second salvo was more accurate but they still didn't manage to hit the German forces nor hamper their progress. For a minute, it seemed that they had just wasted their munitions with the only result being that they had damaged the bridge and the landscape.

However, their luck seemed to turn when the _Jagdtiger_ began to slowly cross the weakened bridge. The sheer weight of the 71 tonne tank, along with the damage caused by the mortar shell, made the bridge no longer strong enough to support the weight. The bridge began to crack and groan under the amount of pressure being placed upon it. Once the tank was fully over the damaged area of the bridge, it began to shudder which was significant enough for Colonel Isaac to order the crew to halt the tank. Before he could react, the bridge finally gave way and the tank fell straight down into the water. The river wasn't deep enough to sink the entire tank, but much of the chassis was now submerged within the water with the top of the turret just slightly higher than the bridge ground. The barrel of the gun was now bent due to the stone bridge pressing against it when the Panzer fell into the river. Now the tank was completely out of action and the bridge has a large gap that was to large to jump across from one end to the other end.

The Gallians let out a sigh of relief. Their seemingly wasteful use of ammunition had managed to instead become them knocking out both a bridge and one of the most feared Panzers in the Nazi _Wehrmacht_. And as an added bonus they seemed to have halted the German advance through the center of their line. Their apparent success caused Baldren to produce a sinister grin upon his face as he remarked to his sister "Hmph. So much for the 'German superiority'. Their forces have just been stopped in their tracks. The day will soon be ours."

For Colonel Isaac however, he wasn't going to let this deter him any longer. He had a job to do, and this setback was not going to cost him. With renewed vigor and confidence, he climbed out of the tank along with the crew of the now useless _Jagdtiger_. After they were all out, he looked to the troops in the half-tracks behind him and shouted "Well don't just sit there! Get out of those half-tracks and get after these Bluecoats! _Schnell!_"

Following his orders, the soldiers in each of the dozen half-tracks, totaling over a hundred men and women, jumped out and raced to cross the bridge. Knowing that they couldn't cross the bridge by jumping to the other side in a massive jump, they used a similar and less tricky method. Now that Isaac and the crew were out of the tank, the soldiers used the top of the turret as a stepping stone as the jumped from their end of the bridge, to the turret top, then the other side quick enough to allow the Germans to move across the bridge at a good pace considering how damaged it was. Now the Germans had turned the tides back into their favor by using the Gallians minor victory against them. As they piled across the river, a large group of these soldiers immediately set their sights on the Gassenarl's and they're small escort that had watched them attempt to cross mere minutes ago. The rest of the soldiers that crossed the river ignored them and took the other streets into town in order to deal with the rest of they're forces.

The Gallians quickly took kept to cover and opened fire upon the Germans as they took positions by the piles of rubble, craters, buildings, or wrecks of cars. The Gassenarl's join the fight as well, with Baldren leading his soldiers on the left side of the road behind the overturned car. His sister was on the other side of the road leading a small group of soldiers behind some rubble. In addition, the building that Audrey and her troops were next to had a Gallian Maxim machine gun with two men operating it up from a large hole on the second floor to add some fire support.

Baldren, armed with his BAR, popped out of cover and sprayed a few short and well aimed bursts at several Germans as they attempted to bolt across the street. He managed to kill two of them while the other two managed to make it to the other side. Another of his soldiers managed to hit another German in the chest with a shot from his Gallian Mauser rifle while other tried to hit one with his Mags-M4 but missed. Meanwhile, Audrey was taking shots at them with her Colt 1911 pistol, with two of her men doing the same with a Gallian-M4 semi-auto rifle and an MP-18 sub-machine gun. They were having slightly less luck as they only managed o gun down one German soldier as he popped out of cover to fire a shot from his Kar98k. He took several hits before collapsing onto the ground, flat on his back.

Together, the two groups managed to keep the Germans at bay until they got some more support. One of the half-tracks moved into position to help it's comrades move up. Once it was in position, the driver of the vehicle moved to the mounted MG42 machine gun, took aim, and began firing at the Gallians, pinning them down. The sheer amount of the firepower that the German machine gun was peppering them with was enough to keep them pinned down behind they're cover, making sure that they could only fire when they were sure they wouldn't get hit. The Gallian Maxim machine gun in the building fired at the half-track to try and knock out the gunner. But the bullet shield that the MG42 was attached to and the angle of the shots prevented the machine gun from being able to score any hits. With the Gallian soldier's pinned down, now was the German's chance to knock out the Gallian Maxim. Colonel Isaac, who was with the soldiers attacking the Gassenarl's, looked over the situation and issued a new set of orders. He looked to the soldiers on Major Audrey's side of the road, who had taken cover along the line of buildings that the MG was located in and yelled at them amid the gunfire _"Werft eine Granate in dieses Gebäude!"_

The soldiers nodded before a group of three gathered near the side entrance of the building, kicked down the door, and moved inside to take out the machine gun. Isaac then turned his attention to the men immediately around him, shouting _"Unterdrückungsfeuer auf das Maschinengewehr! Jetzt, schnell!" _Once again, the troops followed his orders with another group of three forming on the side door, kicking it open, then moving in to go pin the machine gun so that the other team can knock it out without getting slaughtered. The rest of the soldiers simply stayed hunkered behind the buildings and car wrecks, waiting for the indefinite boom of the grenade that would take out the Gallian machine gun.

The team that was set to suppress the Gallian machine gun quickly moved up to the second floor of the building that ran parallel to the one that housed the machine gun. They set up position near the windows and took aim at the gun. Though much of the upper wall of they're floor was gone, there was still enough cover for the three of them to use while they took aim with they're Kar98k's. Once they were in position, they immediately fired at the machine gun. They're first few bullets managed to hit one of the men operating the gun, wounding him. The other Gallian manning the gun quickly took over, traversing the gun towards the three Germans and firing upon them furiously. One of the Germans quickly fell from the hail of gunfire while his two comrades stayed in cover and continued to fire back despite the danger.

Meanwhile, the team tasked with taking out the machine gun quietly made their way to it as it had become distracted by the suppression team. Two took cover near the door frame while the third took out a stick grenade and prepared to toss it. As the Gallian machine gunner finished off the remaining members of the suppression team with a few more bursts, the German with the grenade pulled the pin and tossed it at the feet of the Gallian Regular before he and his comrades got back into cover. About five seconds, the grenade exploded, killing the gunner and his wounded friend, effectively knocking the machine gun out of action.

With the machine gun now out of commission, now was the time to strike. With the half-track stopping it's attack upon the Gallians, Isaac pulled out his Luger pistol and shouted to his men, _"Angriff!"_

The large group of German soldiers charged forward towards the Gassenarl's and their troops. The Germans at times pause individually and fire upon the Gallians as the continue to advance. Seeing their position as now useless, Balren and Audrey order they're forces to retreat to join the rest of their task force deeper into town. They jumped out of cover and start running but manage to fire a few shots, killing at least four German troops. And as they retreated, the Germans fired at them as they ran away. They're bullets mostly missed but they still managed to kill at least two of the Gallians escorting the Gassenarl's back to the main lines. The Germans led by Colonel Isaac continued to chase them, with one of Isaac's soldiers shouting _"Sie ziehen sich zurück! Haltet den Druck weiterhin aufrecht, Männer!"_

* * *

Back in their position in the forest, Lieutenant Mary Read and her soldiers could only watch and listen as the sounds of battle emanated from the town in front of them. They could see the smoke from the explosions and the rattling of machine guns from both sides as the battle continued to get much more fierce as the day progressed. Ever since they were called to fire upon the bridge, they have had no contact with the others who were still inside the town. All they could tell from the gunfire and explosions was that they were still fighting against the Germans, but for how long they would be able to last against them they weren't quite sure. Some were wondering why they were just sitting here in the forest where instead they could mount up their horses and gallop into the town to try and help the others. These men included Read's friend Carter.

"We need to get in there and help them. It sounds like they're being overrun down there," cried Carter, pointing out his concern. It wasn't that he wanted to save his commanders, Baldren and Audrey Gassenarl. It was because he wanted to save the soldiers that were risking they're lives to protect them.

"We can't. We don't have any orders to move out," said Mary, contradicting Carter's concerns.

"You can't be serious Mary. We can't just leave them to die down there. This isn't right," noted Carter.

"This isn't about right or wrong Carter! This is about following orders. Until we get word from them, we're staying here. Am I understood?" said Mary, making herself very clear to Carter. When she demanded an answer from him about where he stood on her orders, Carter simply didn't answer and let up a inaudible mumble, indicating that he understood, albeit unwillingly. No matter how much he disagreed with her at this moment, there was little that he or their unit could do besides wait and see if the task force would try and contact them with further orders.

* * *

The Gallian task force had been pushed back all the way to the main square of the town. They had been reduced to about a hundred men and women that were now pinned on all sides by the German troops. The only thing keeping them at bay were the two remaining _Theimer_ tanks who were using they're cannons and machine guns that inflicted massive casualties upon the Germans. One of the _Theimer_ tanks aimed their main 75 millimeter cannon at a group of five Germans who had taken cover behind a pile of rubble. The tank fired a High Explosive shell which exploded directly behind the Germans, blowing them to pieces. The other _Theimer_ tank was firing it's side mounted 35 millimeter cannon and Gallian Maxim machine gun at German soldiers entering from one of the alleys. The tight spaces of the alley made it quite difficult for the Germans to advance because there was little room to maneuver or take cover from the high explosive shells and bullets being shelled at them. At least a dozen Germans had already been killed trying to come through here, and another three were added to that tally by another explosive shell from that tank took their lives.

So far, the Gallians were managing to hold they're own against the Nazis. More so than they ever imagined they would. If they managed to keep this up, then maybe they would be able to win this battle for good. And all the while as the Gallians held they're positions, the Gassenarl's were shouting at the top of their lungs at them, trying to encourage them to continue fighting until the very end.

"HOLD THE LINE MEN! THERE'S NO RETREAT!" yelled Baldren.

"MAKE THEM PAY FOR EVERY INCH THEY TAKE!" added Audrey.

This happened for about ten minutes longer as the Gallians continued to keep the Germans at bay. Seeing they're progress being halted, Colonel Isaac decided to call in the big guns that he had placed in reserve. Talking into a field radio that one of his soldiers had strapped to his back, he pulled out the speaker and asked "Lightning? Is the gun in position?"

_"Affirmative. They're in position and awaiting orders Alexander,"_ responded Lighting, confirming their located and readiness back to Isaac.

Colonel Isaac smiled at her answer and ordered "Better get over here then. I'd hate for you to miss the fireworks."

_"I'm already on route. Switch to channel two and you'll be able to order the Nebelwerfer to commence firing,"_ notified Lightning. The Nebelwerfer 42 was a new type of artillery that fired five eight inch rockets from five barrels that were reminiscent to the chamber that held the bullets in a revolver. They were feared weapons in the German arsenal and the distinctive moaning sound they made when they fired their payload earned them the nickname "Moaning Minnie" by the forces of the Atlantic Federation, a reference to the popular American cartoon 'Mickey Mouse'. This was part of Isaac's plan. If he had managed to get the Gallian corners and into one particular space, he'd have the Nebelwerfer fire off it's ordinance and thin the Gallians numbers just enough for his forces to overwhelm them and cause them to surrender. Now that he had reached that stage, it was time to rain hell upon the Gallians.

With that in mind, he switched the radio channel to the one the artillerymen were using, grabbed the mic on the radio, and ordered "Sergeant...you may fire at will."

* * *

Back in the forest, Mary and her men were still watching as the Nazis continued to apply pressure upon the besieged Regulars. Suddenly, they heard this moaning like sound coming from off in the distance. Looking out to the source of the noise, they could see rockets streaking upwards from the treeline where the Germans apparently came from. The smoke from the five rockets that were launched created a clear trail showing the path these rockets were traveling. The five rockets moved at a steep angle upwards, almost as if they were heading towards the sun. They went so high that when they flew into the path of the sun's light, Read and her troops couldn't see them anymore for the sheer brightness of the sun made it especially difficult.

The next time they saw the rockets was when they heard a high pitch scream getting closer and closer to them. Then for a split second, they saw the rockets falling straight towards the town center before the impacted the ground, setting off five massive explosions that sent fire and dust higher than any the top of any of the buildings. Once they exploded, the sounds of gunfire came to a halt. This could only mean one thing: the Gassenarl siblings and their forces had just been completely wiped out by the Germans. Read, Carter, and all their soldiers could do nothing but stare in horror and despair as the realization of what had just happened sunk in to them.

Now they were all that was left of the task force. All of those who came with them...were all dead. All they're friends, comrades, fellow Gallians...had just been wiped out. Now Mary's men were completely outnumbered and outgunned. If they didn't get out of here quickly then they were all going to get killed. With that in mind, Read quietly yet with sorrow in her voice, ordered "Pack up everything...we're leaving."

After a few more seconds of mourning, they did as she said. They quickly packed up the mortars, machine guns, and the ammo for each back into the crates and placed them back into the carts. After hooking them back up to the reins on their horses, the company mounted them and headed out to try and make it out of the forest and back behind friendly lines. As her men moved out, Mary took one last look at the town behind her, almost feeling regret for having may have left the soldiers in there get killed due to her inaction. Despite her regret, there was nothing she could do now besides get her men out of the Ardennes as quickly as possible. And with that in her mind, she pulled the reins on her horse and trotted along to join the rest of her men as they made their long trek back home.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the town center, the Gallians were not wiped out. However, they were severely weakened. About half their soldiers were wiped out along with one of the Belgen Gunther tanks with other one having one of it's tracks blown off and engine damaged, rendering it disabled but still able to shoot. The remaining thirty or so Gallians still alive were on the ground, dazed and confused as they tried to gain their bearings and get back up on their feet. Their uniforms and faces were covered in dust that was blown everywhere from the explosions made by the rocket impacts. the air was filled with dust as the visibility making the Gallian unable to see anything within twenty feet in front of them. And many of them were coughing for some of that dust may have gotten into their lungs.

Baldren was one of those who was coughing. As he helped his sister back upon her feet, he managed to say "What in the -*cough* name of the Valkyrur-*cough**cough* was that?"

"I-*cough* I don't know. I think it was some kind of artillery," replied his sister, in the same situation as the rest of the troops. Before they could contemplate any further they heard machine gun fire coming from the disabled Gallian heavy tank, particularly from the opened turret hatch. It was indicating that an explosion likely occurred inside the tank, killing whatever left of the crew was still alive after the rocket artillery barrage. It must have seen some Germans approaching and was trying to take them out before they could get any closer. It only managed to fire a few bursts from the gun before a loud and deafening explosion rang throughout the air.

Once the dust clears, they all look to see their last tank destroyed and smoking. Now they were without any armored support against the Germans at all. But the thing that shocked them the most was that someone was standing upon the ruins of the destroyed tank. She was a woman of nineteen years, with aqua hair and short pink hair that had a few locks on her left side long enough to reach her shoulder. She was wearing a set of silver armor that was bulletproof and had gold trimmings. The armor she wore covered her chest with a golden Fleur-de-lis emblazoned on it, the top half of her back, shoulders, most of her legs, boots, her hips, and the top portion of her hands and forearms. She also wore a type of black, skin tight clothing that covered the rest of her body from the lower torso down that was not already covered by the armor. She also wore it on her arms that stretched from her hands to the middle of her upper arms. Finally, she wore a type of white cloak that began from her waist and draped down towards the top of her boots, covering only the back and sides of her legs. This woman struck fear into the hearts of the Gallians for they knew who she was: She was Lightning, Prince Lelouch's Knight and bodyguard.

In her hands was a set of fierce weaponry. She held a strange looking sword, resembling a double edged sword but with some added features such as a small device attached to the hilt with some wires and tubes as well. It's blade was glowing blue, almost indicating that the small device attached to the sword was somehow infusing Ragnite into the blade for some reason. The same was said for her shield which had that same device located near the grip where Lightning had it strapped to her arm. The shield was circular and large enough to protect her body from bullets and deflect them safely away from her. And tucked away into a holster that was strapped to her right thigh was a Mauser C96 pistol and two strips of ammo next to it for quick reloading.

Without a moment to lose, Lightning jumped from the tank adopted a battle stance then charged at the Gallians so fast that it almost seemed inhuman. The Gallians soon took action to try and cut her down. The three soldiers closest to her grabbed their weapons off the ground and attempted to shoot her but she closed in on them so fast that they never had a chance to do so. With three deep and quick cuts precisely cut along their necks, the Gallian soldiers bled out and collapsed onto the ground as Lightning continued to advance upon the main Gallian force. Two of the Gallians armed with Mags-M4's took aim and fired at her. Lightning placed her shield in front of her, deflecting the shots as they pinged off the bulletproof metal. The two Gallian soldiers kept on firing until their magazines ran out of bullets.

Lightning took advantage of this situation and hurled her sword at one of the Gallians, impaling him right through the chest with the azure blade. This stunned the other soldier where in retaliation he quickly dropped his weapon and pulled out his infantry cutlass to try his luck in close quarter combat instead. When Lightning was close enough to him, he swung at her intending to slice off her head. However, Lightning ducked his swing and using her momentum, slammed her shield into the soldier's gut, then gave him a broad smack across the face with it. This disoriented the soldier enough for Lightning to grab the hand the Gallian was holding the sword twisted his wrist, pointing the blade downward, then pulled down hard, causing the soldier to impale himself through the stomach with his own blade.

As she let go of the blade, she instantly reached for her pistol as she sensed more Gallian soldiers were about to shoot. She was right as about five more of these soldiers began to take aim. With her shield as cover and quick reflexes, she turned to face them and rapidly fired two shots for each Gallian, all of them fatal hits to the chest. The five Gallians quickly slumped to the ground, dead as door nails. Before their comrades could try and do the same to Lightning, the remaining German soldiers from the battle piled into the town center with their weapons raised and aimed right at the depleted Gallians. The sheer amount of soldiers was too many for the Gallians to handle as they had them outnumbered three to one. Knowing that resistance would be futile, the Gallians carefully placed their weapons upon the ground before slowly raising their arms up to surrender. Baldren and Audrey were the last to do so as they were the ones who were the most reluctant to surrender to the invading Germans. The crowd of Germans parted to show Colonel Isaac walking towards them under guard by two Black Knights who stayed behind with the half-tracks. He had a smug look upon his face for he knew exactly who it was that he and Lightning had just caught.

"Colonel Baldren and Major Audrey Gassenarl. The 'Gallian Lion from the South' and the 'Battle Maiden of the Iron Horse'. Now this is quite a catch, even though you were not the quarry my Prince wanted in the first place," commented Isaac, noting his disappointment.

"Your master's needs are the last thing I concerned myself with German dog," insulted Baldren in defiance.

"I'd be careful what you say hothead. I'm the one who holds all the cards now. One wrong word here," he gestured over to Lightning who pulled her sword out of the dead Gallian and turned her attention to the one she had impaled with his own sword. He was now on his knees, barely alive, clutching his wound, and with blood coming out of his wound and mouth. Before anyone could blink, Lightning beheaded the Gallian with a quick and powerful slash. His head rolled upon the ground, ending up at the feet of his comrades. The Gallian Regulars took a step back, clearly horrified by what they saw and not wanting the same fate to befall them. Isaac finished his statement with "Or else you'll end up like this poor soul."

Nobody said anything after that, choosing to remain quiet in fear of the Germans executing them in an equally brutal matter. Isaac and Lightning slowly approached Baldren and Audrey with Lightning holding the tip of her blade close to Baldren's throat as a precaution if they tried anything stupid. With that in mind, Isaac said to the two "We just destroyed your entire army. Don't think that if your superiors send in another that will perform any better than you are sorely mistaken. Now, either you send Lieutenant Gunther here, or the next time you and I meet, we won't be so merciful."

"Soldiers, escort these Gallians to one of their trucks and see them off. They'll deliver out little message to their masters," ordered Lightning as she lowed her sword and placed it within it's sheathe.

_"Verstanden, Misstress Lightning!"_ said one of the _Wehrmacht_ soldiers who followed her orders and escorted the Gassenarl's and their remaining soldiers to a truck and made sure that they left the town for good. As they watched them being escorted out, Lightning inquired to Isaac "You think they'll buy it?"

"Of course. Now that they know that we're here, they'll place more focus on those supply bases thinking that Lelouch is there. We've got our part to play. We just have to play it the way our Prince wants us to," answered Isaac. That was all that they needed to know. Now all they had to do was head back to the supply base and await for the next Gallian force that would be sent to take them down.

_"At this point, things were going to get very interesting. When the Gassenarl's came back, their account of what happened was all the proof Gallian High Command needed to confirm their suspicions that Prince Lelouch was in the Ardennes Forest protecting the base. None of them had a damn clue that they were being played by the same guy they were trying to capture. The board was set and the pieces were moving...with Lelouch the one moving the pieces exactly where he wanted them to be. After that battle, we lost contact with Mary and her troops. The Gassenarl's lost track of her and considered her and her men deserters. Whether it was true we didn't know. Neither did we know if Mary and her men ever made it out of the Ardennes alive." - Jack Lawrence_

* * *

German to English Translations

1\. _"Ihr Männer nehmt den linken Weg über den Fluss! Ihr da, nehmt den rechten Weg! Der Rest von euch kommt mit mir! Wir werden in der Mitte einen Pfad für Lightning freimachen!" - _You men, take the left path across the river! You lot, take the right path! The rest of you are with me! We're clearing a path up the middle for Lightning!

2\. _"Ihr habt den Colonel gehört, Jungs! Heute werden wir ein paar Blaujacken töten!" _\- You heard the Colonel boys! We're going to kill some Bluecoats today!

3\. _"Holt die Panzerschrecks her!" _\- Bring up the Panzerschrecks!

4\. "_Schnell!_" - Quick!

5\. _"Werft eine Granate in dieses Gebäude!" _\- Get a grenade in the building!

6\. _"Unterdrückungsfeuer auf das Maschinengewehr! Jetzt, schnell!" _\- Suppressive fire on the machine gun! Now, quick!

7\. _"Angriff!" - _Attack!

_8\. __"Sie ziehen sich zurück! Haltet den Druck weiterhin aufrecht, Männer!" _\- They're retreating! Keep up the pressure men!

9\. _"Verstanden, Misstress Lightning!" _\- Understood Mistress Lightning!

**Now this was a hard one to write actually. And now things will start to get more interesting after this. Just to clarify things, Lightning wears the outfit she wears in Final Fantasy XIII-2 with the sword and the shield modified to be powered by Ragnite, thus giving them a blue glow. Up next in these chapters will be Jack's court martial. Will he make it out or will he be proven guilty? Stay tuned to find out...okay that sounded a little corny there.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	63. Jack's Trial Part-1: The Inquiry

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Earlier That Day_

_ April 20, 1935_

_Randgriz Courthouses_

_0815 (8:15 am)_

The day of Jack's court martial had arrived at last. Normally this would take more than a few days to start but for some reason the higher ups of Gallia wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible and without any further delays. So early in the day, several MP's came into the Squad 7 barracks and roused Jack out of bed. After he got dressed and freshened up, they carted him outside and into a Jeep which drove him from the base to the courthouse...or what was left of them due to the bombings. Here, Jack's fate was going to be decided. Whether this would end with him being exonerated or in front of a firing squad depended upon five different judges. So there he sat in one of the waiting rooms next to the courtroom. He was dressed in his old olive, U.S. Captain's dress uniform. It was all Olive drab colored and finely tailored for events such as balls, dinners, or in Jack's case a court martial. Other items that went with his uniform included a white linen shirt underneath his jacket, a black neck tie, and an officer's cap with a black visor. He wore the yellowed colored epaulets on his shoulders, and the silver Captain's bars on his right lapel with the golden letters 'U.S.' on his left lapel. Also, he also had yellow colored aiguillettes, braided ornamental cords, hung on the right side of his uniform, just below the epaulets. And the sheer number of medals, ribbons, and badges on him merely showed just how decorated the young man was in his two years of service within the United States Army.

Aside from the Medal of Honor he proudly displayed wrapped around his neck, he had all his service medals displayed on the right side of his uniform. The full list of medals he had included both the Bronze and Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart, the Soldier's Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Alaskan Campaign Medal, the Far East Russia Campaign Medal, the Soviet-American War Victory Medal, and the Anchorage Defender Medal which was awarded to the survivors of the Siege of Anchorage. He even had a few foreign medals as well. One was the the Order of Lenin, the Soviet Union's highest honor. It was given to him personally by the now Premier Dimitri Novogod out of his admiration for the young man's skill as a soldier. Somehow in Jack's mind when he was being presented this by the Premier the other meaning of this was _'Here is a symbol of our gratitude for not completely destroying our country in the war. Take this and have a pleasant life'_. The other was the Victorian Cross, the highest honor of Great Britain. This was given to him on very highly positive recommendations by the British SAS volunteers sent by their government to help the Americans. Then on his left side he had his badges and his military ribbons. For his ribbons, placed above the left tunic pocket, he had those that were given to him alongside each of the U.S. Army medals that he had received. Also, he has several badges pinned beneath them. The total ones he has includes the Parachutists Badge for his service in the 101st, the Expert Marksman Badge, Pistol Marksman Badge, Combat Infantry Badge, and the Presidential Unit Citation.

The sheer amount of the medal, badges, ribbons alone was enough to surprise anyone that such a young man could have earned so many medals. Jack was either one hell of a soldier or he was an incredibly lucky man. Whatever the reason, Jack was officially labeled by the public and the military as the most decorated soldier in American history, a title that Jack wore with pride. If there was any chance of Jack being able to convince the jury of his innocence, maybe it could be the sheer amount of medals he received for his valorous service in the American Army. At least that's what Jack hoped would happen at least. For now, he was just waiting for Captain Varrot, his appointed attorney, to arrive and they would both head into the courtroom together.

Hearing the sound of heels clacking on the marble floors, Jack looked to the source of the noise to see Varrot in her dress uniform coming down the hall. The tailored uniform was colored the same blue as the Militia uniforms. The blue and the red on her dress uniform seemed much brighter and prominent than they did on her field uniform. Another major difference was that the buttons, belt, epaulets, and badges on her uniform were golden colored, adding a bit of class to 'Peasant Army', which was the nickname that the Gallian higher ups had given the Militia. Another touch were the fancy white gloves she wore as she carried the few binders full of papers she's use in the upcoming trial. Attached to her belt was a ceremonial dagger that was tucked within a white sheathe with a golden tip. The handle of the dagger was snow white and the pommel was also golden. Oddly, another touch to her uniform was a cape, red on the inside and blue on the outside, that ended midway down her back. Finally she wore a blue, knee length skirt, black stockings, and black high heels that mad the distinctive clacking noises that alerted Jack to her arrival.

When she was near him, Jack put his cap back on his head and got up from his seat on the bench. Varrot took one look at him and was actually impressed by the amount of medals and awards that Jack was displaying upon his chest. With the glint of the medals shining in her eye, she commented to Jack "For a moment there when I saw you, I thought I had mistaken you for someone else."

"The medals sort of do that. No one really expects someone my age to have earned these many medals," added Jack, pointing out a truth to Varrot, "But then again, at least this might give me a bit of sympathy among the Judges."

Varrot nodded her head before replying "I suppose so. So why exactly are you wearing your old uniform anyway for this?"

"Because I never got one of your dress uniforms so this was the closest thing that I could get my hands on for the trial. Plus I think I look better in this than in blue. Really, you guys need a different color for your uniforms," explained Jack as he spoke his point of view on the subject. It wasn't that he problems with the Gallian uniform, it was just he wasn't very fond of the color of the uniform. They weren't exactly inconspicuous to say the least. Anyone who wasn't blind could see them coming from a mile away. He preferred the olive-greens that the U.S. Army wore. He would have given anything to be back in that uniform again for real this time. But first he had to make sure he would get out of his trial without ending up with five rifle bullets in his chest. And he was counting on Varrot to help keep him alive. But still, there was one question about her being his lawyer that he wanted answered.

"Why are you doing this anyway?" he asked in a cryptic tone.

Varrot, not knowing at first what he meant, looked to him and inquired "What do you mean?"

"Not many people would want to be the attorney for a guy that's been accused of treason and espionage for the Nazi Empire. You could lose a lot if this goes badly for me. So why are you risking it all to help some bloke like me?" said Jack. What he said was true. If Jack was found guilty and convicted, Varrot to would suffer for it. Her reputation would be greatly slandered, she'd likely lose her commission in the Militia, and would have to live the rest of her life being labeled as 'the woman who defended a Nazi'. None of these were promising to anyone who would have taken Jack's case. It was pretty much career suicide to become Jack's lawyer. So it stemmed to reason as to why Varrot was so brave as to be the one to help him, despite the fact that they didn't know each other for a long time. She must have had some good reason as for doing so, not that she was going to tell him just like that.

But to his surprise, she actually came out and explained to Jack honestly "Because I believe you. I remember reading up on your deeds in the papers during the war between the Americans and the Soviets. I've met men like you who won medals...though not as many as you did. None of them ever struck me as the kind of person who would betray his country and all that he held dear. That's why I'm helping you. A guy as decorated as you isn't capable of doing the things that they're saying you did."

"So...you're basically doing this out of blind faith in me being innocent?" inquired Jack, summing up what Varrot was trying to explain. She simply nodded her head to confirm his question. This was already a very risky maneuver for Varrot, but now it was even more risky than it was before. Looks like they both had a lot on the line with this trial. But if they were going down, then they were going to give the prosecution one hell of a fight before they went down.

With that in their minds, they walked to the main doors of their courtroom which was guarded by three Gallian MP's, an officer and two subordinates. The two grunts were wielding Mags-M4's with the officer simply carrying a Colt 1911 pistol in his brown leather holster. He carefully eyed Jack as he approached the three of them. With a nod of his head, his men readied their weapons and aimed at Jack from the hip, prepared to fire at a moment's notice. For Jack, this was a good indicator that he and Varrot were heading in the right direction. Jack and Varrot halted right in front of the officer and Jack wasted no time joking "Let me guess, you want our invitations? Well sorry mate but I left them in my other dress uniform. The one without all these medals."

The officer, not amused, simply brushed off the joke and answered sternly "Do you have any weapons on you?"

Jack simply said nothing just to spite the guy. It seemed to work, as the officer asked him the question again, this time, a little more sternly and gestured for him to raise his arms so that the officer could pat him down and search for any weapons since Jack didn't seem willing to comply with him at all. Jack, already sensing that the man was getting pretty angry at him, reluctantly complied with his request and raised his arms out to his side and straight out. The officer immediately went to patting him down and checking his pockets for if he was hiding any kind of knife or pistol in his clothing that he was planning to bring into the courtroom. Jack just didn't like the fact Gallian High Command was going to such lengths to have him hung as a spy, but the fact that he was being suspected of trying to sneak a weapon was just ridiculous. I mean they pretty much took all the weapons out of his foot locker when they first arrested him, and they had a whole damn security team around the barracks 24/7 since then. It would have been pretty impossible for him to sneak in a gun with those kind of procedures._ 'Now if those Generals would put the same amount of planning into the military strategies as they did in setting me up as a scapegoat they might have actually won the war by now,'_ thought Jack as the officer finished his search.

Once the officer was done checking him for weapons, he signaled for his men to put away their weapons which they did. Varrot and Jack continued onto the courtroom with the officer escorting them. The two other MP's opened the large wooden doors for them, and they all entered inside to the courtroom. It was a large room where most of it was taken up by wooden seats like you'd see in a church lined up in aisles for the audience to watch the trial play out. They were mostly empty except for Ellet, who was going to cover the trial and write a story for it on orders of her boss. Yet despite her orders, she was hesitant to actually write because of what she now knew about Jack courtesy of Alistair Koller. There were large wooden tables with both set in front of the audience and on opposite sides. This was where the prosecution and the defense for the trial would be sitting. There was also a smaller table large enough for only person. It was placed in between the Prosecution and Defense tables and in the space between them and the Judges. There the Defendant along with any witnesses would be sitting as each side would call them forward to question them. The prosecution was already there when the two of them had arrived. Major General Carl Eisler and his aide-de-camp were sitting in as the prosecutors for Jack's trial. As for the audience, due to Gallia's High Command trying to keep this internal, made sure that this trial wasn't open for the public. Finally, there were the five Judges, all five of them middle aged men, with the High Judge sitting in the middle of them, sitting in their black cloaks and powdered wigs up high in their loft position in front of all as they overlooked the prosecution and the incoming defense. These five would be the ones who would decide Jack's fate, and he needed at least three of them to be convinced that he was innocent which no doubt would be no small task.

Jack and Varrot walked up the middle of the empty aisles and sat down on the left table. The moment they sat down, the High Judge spoke up and spoke "Now that we're all here I believe that now is the time for us to begin the trial. Will the Defense and the Prosecution please rise?"

Both sides heeded his request and both sides rose to their feet. The High Judge put on his reading glasses and read aloud the paper on his desk, saying "On this day of April 20, nineteen thirty-five, we have the accused: Jackson Alexander Lawrence, former Captain of the United States Army, now Corporal of the Gallian Militia, 3rd Regiment, Seventh Platoon. The charges against the accused are as follows: treason, espionage, and collaboration with the Imperial Germanian Reich. This trial is to determine your fate on these charges. If you are charged as guilty and convicted as such, than this court has no choice but to bring the full might of the law be brought down upon you...and you'll be sentenced to death by firing squad."

The High Judge looked to Jack and asked plainly "Do you understand the charges placed before you sir?

Jack boldly spoke up and replied back "Yes. And if this ends with my death, I'm ready to meet my maker and answer for every life I've taken."

Eisler simply rolled his eyes at annoyance with Jack's smug behavior. He was going to enjoy wiping that look off his face when he convinced the High Judges of the man's guilt. And he would enjoy it more when he would see the MP's drag him off to the firing squad. Everything the Generals were working on to restore their credibility depended on how well he could work his magic with words and the evidence they had handed him. Eisler had full confidence both in himself and the evidence they had 'acquired' against him. There was no way that the young Corporal would be walking out of this one. Where he was going...there would be no escape for him.

"Very well then, in that case may the Defense please give their opening statement to the court?" asked the High Judge, wanting to continue with the trial.

Varrot wasted no time getting out of her chair and stood before the Judges as she began her statement with "Your Honor, Corporal Lawrence here is being charged with crimes that are both false and completely fabricated. He has served with honor and distinction throughout the Soviet-American War and his short service within the Seventh Platoon. He's won multiple medals and is praised as a war hero by his nation. How could a man such as him betray his country, his family, and everything he stands for just to become a spy for the Nazi Empire? Because he didn't. The prosecution is going to paint him as some man who's an expert at hiding his motives and intentions, to manipulate others into believing what he wants them to think of him. But this man isn't some kind of manipulative Nazi, he's a highly decorated, former American military officer who came here to help us. Now I will not deny that his choice of friends seems questionable considering who they are or from where they originate, but that is not the issue that we're here to address. This young man has committed no crime and is innocent. And that's what I'm going to prove to you. That's the truth."

Once Varrot was finished, she gave a small bow to the Judges and walks back to her chair and as she sits back down next to Jack, Eisler got up from his seat to give his opening statement. But unlike Varrot, he didn't leave the table, but just stood up from behind the desk. From there he said "That was a nice speech Varrot. Very moving. But we aren't here to listen to petty speeches from you Captain. We're here because of Corporal Lawrence's activities as an agent for the Imperial Germanian Reich. The man's friendship with the Nazi Prince, famed General, and all around Devil named Lelouch vi Britannia is clear evidence as to where his loyalties lie. He has been friends with the man since they were mere children, meaning that the Corporal has been under their influence for years. All these medals, his achievements, all of them are simply irrelevant. He is here because he is aligned with the enemy of everything we hold dear. An enemy that would like nothing more than to bring our country back into it's iron grip. He may be called a hero by many, but make no mistake. His heart is black as coal. And that...is the truth here."

Eisler sat back down in his chair, confident that he had gotten his point across quite clearly and that he managed to shake whatever thoughts they may have had about Jack's innocence. Now came the next part for both sides: try to convince the Judges that their side of the argument was the truth. Not an easy thing for either side as they needed three out of five of the Judges to side with them. But both Varrot and Eisler were going to try their best regardless of what slander they would get from each other. Anyway, It was Jack who would be in the hot seat throughout the entire trial. With one of the MP's escorting Jack, they lead him to that small table and placed the chair at the table right where Jack would end up facing the Judges during his questioning. Before Jack could sit down, one of the court officials came out holding a Bible. He looked to Jack and asked "May you place your left hand upon the bible and raise your right hand please?"

Jack did just that. After he placed his left hand on the Bible and raised his right hand, the court official asked him bluntly "Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

That was done with and the court official left. As Jack took his seat and faced the Judges, the High Judge looked over his file and was quite intrigued by what it said. He mentioned his interest to Jack by noting to the young man "You're file is quite an interesting read Corporal Lawrence. During your service in the American Army, you won more medals in your two years of service than most soldiers earn in ten years. Quite a remarkable feat considering your young age. You must be one hell of a soldier to have earned these many commendations."

"Thank you your Honor," replied Jack, giving off a small smile at the Judges words. It seems things were already tilting in his favor since one of the Judges seems to like him.

"Much as I'd like to question you personally I believe we really must get onto business. May the Defense please begin it's questioning?" asked the High Judge, looking over to Varrot. Jack silently thanked God that Varrot was going to question him first. At least he's be able to be eased into this whole process by Varrot going easy on him with the questions. But once Eisler would begin questioning him, he wouldn't be shown any mercy by the Gallian General. For now it looks like he wouldn't have to put up with him for a little bit longer.

Varrot wasted no time in getting up from her seat to question Jack. She started off slow by first asking him "So then, would you prefer us to address you as Captain Lawrence of the United States, or Corporal Lawrence from the Gallian Militia?"

"I guess you could call me Captain Lawrence," suggested Jack, still relatively calm.

"How exactly did you meet Prince Lelouch?" inquired Varrot.

"My father was an Ambassador to most of Europe. I spent the better part of my childhood on trips abroad to these countries as well as other nations in the world. On my first visit to Germania when I was six years old, I meet Lelouch there and we quickly became friends," answered Jack.

"And how exactly would you describe him as a person?" asked Varrot.

"Objection! What's the relevance of this?" cried Eisler, interrupting Varrot.

"His friendship with Prince Lelouch vi Britannia is one of the reasons why he's being placed on trial in the first place. I'm simply offering the Judges a look into it so that they can understand it much better," explained Varrot, detailing her reasons for this line of questioning. If they were going to attack Jack based on his choice of friends, it would be best if they had a clue as to why Jack chose the Prince as a friend.

Evidently, the High Judge agreed with her on that point saying "I concur with the Captain. Your objection is sustained General. The Defendant may now answer the question."

Jack took a deep breath before admitting "Well I'll admit that due to his upbringing he can be stubborn, arrogant, and sometimes just impossible to reason with. But then again the man is also one of the oldest and perhaps the best friend that I ever had in my life. Of that I'm certain."

"Thank you. Now then, are you, or have you ever been, a member of the Nazi Party, or in other terms a sympathizer of the Nazi Empire of their ideology?" asked Varrot, continuing her questioning.

Jack answered the question both bluntly and honestly with "No. I am not a Nazi. Nor have I ever been one, nor will I ever will be. I would rather be dead than on _their_ side."

"Very good. Now did you have any contact with the Prince during your two years of service in the American Army or during your brief tenure in the Gallian Militia?" inquired Varrot.

Again, Jack answered the question truthfully and without hesitation "No ma'am. I didn't contact Lelouch during those time periods and he hasn't attempted to contact me. In fact, I haven't had any word from him in months now."

"And for my final question: have you ever sold military secrets to the Germans at all? Have you ever betrayed your comrades for the Nazi Empire?" wondered Varrot, finishing her questioning and now just waiting for Jack to answer.

"Okay first of all, that was two questions. Secondly, no I haven't given any military secrets to the Nazi Empire. I'm not a traitor. I've always been a patriot. There is no way I would ever betray everything I stand for just to go work for a bunch of goose stepping morons who revere their Royals thinking their the descendants of God Almighty himself," said Jack as he made his point clear to everyone present. Varrot, satisfied that she and Jack had helped lay out their case quite well to the Judges. But now came the very hard part for Jack: defending himself alone against the Prosecutor, Major General Carl Eisler. And as the man got up from his seat to question him, Jack could already feel his nerves starting to falter in the face of this man. _'Things are about to get really bad, really fast,'_ thought Jack. When Eisler saw how nervous he was, he smirked at how much he was going to enjoy breaking him down bit by bit.

"Don't worry, you have nothing to fear...if you have nothing to hide," mocked a confident Eisler as he looked right at Jack, making the young man gulp out of nervousness. For only a Major General, Jack couldn't help but notice that the man had a peculiar quality that was just off. Jack didn't know what it was but there was just something that he didn't like about the man...besides the obvious. And it was bugging him to such a degree that for a moment, the trial seemed to be the least of his concerns. But that feeling wasn't going to last for very long once the questions started.

And it didn't take long for that to start as Eisler opened up his interrogation. His hands upon the table, facing Jack, and leaning in close, he started with "So...you haven't seen the Black Prince in only a few months eh? Sound's recent. When _was_ the last time you had seen him?"

Now Jack was beginning to regret his earlier words. He may not have had any contact with Lelouch during the time he was in the service, but the fact that he met with him just before the war would be seen by many as clearly suspicious. Apparently, thinking before he spoke wasn't a trait that Jack seemed to possess at times. Either way, Jack managed to explain "Okay look. When I saw him it was around the end of December. My service in the U.S. Army had already ended and it was before the German invasion here even began. What could I have possibly done to you at that time?"

"I'll ask the questions thank you very much. So if you weren't supposedly committing an act of treason, what were you doing in Germania around that time?" asked Eisler, laying on the accusations pretty quickly.

"Lelouch was getting married. He asked me to be his best man. I went to Germania to be there for my friend," defended Jack, trying to explain his actions.

"You were at your _friend's_ wedding? My, my. And here I was led to believe that you were just very good friends. Surely it must mean you're closer if he invited you to be the best man at his wedding?" implied Eisler as he slowly walked around Jack and the table, keeping sure to maintain eye contact with the Judges as he circled around Jack.

"Okay. Look he's like a brother to me. I went to his wedding because I knew he'd do the same for me," explained Jack.

Eisler simply smiled at this and continued applying the pressure. He asked Jack "How do we even know that was your reason for attending? All we have is your word for it. For all we know you could have returned to New Berlin to report on what you knew. Isn't that right?"

_"At this point, Eisler was really getting on my nerves. It was bad enough that I was on trial in the first place for crimes I had never committed in the first place, but Eisler was just enjoying this way too much on my account. He had now resorted to slandering me and those whom I considered to be close friends just so that his case could seem plausible to the Judges. And the more he talked, the more I wanted to just punch him in his pretty little face. But I managed to keep myself in check since the current circumstances wouldn't really make that kind of action quite helpful at the moment. It also meant that my only choice was to listen to his drivel...as much as I didn't want to." - Jack Lawrence._

"That's not true! I went to New Berlin at the time to attend his wedding! That was it! I didn't take a damn trip around the city if that's what you're asking. I was there only for the wedding, and once it was over I immediately left the country! Nothing else happened!," cried out Jack, the irritation in his voice evident as he now desperately tries to defend himself from all the flak that Eisler was giving him. If he was having trouble this soon, then he shuddered to think of how much trouble he would be in later on when the questions got more intense and difficult as he continued.

And true to his fears, but also to Jack's surprise, Eisler's next question was "So that was it? You didn't go to see a Miss Milly Ashford by any chance did you?"

Now Jack was completely surprised, mostly in wondering to himself how on earth that Eisler could have known that name. It certainly wasn't one that he should have heard of, at least not publicly in Gallia anyway. For Miss Milly Ashford was a woman of Germania's aristocracy. When Jack came to Germania and hung out with Lelouch, they also had a few other people that traveled along with them, making it one big group of friends. One of those friends was Milly Ashford. She was the daughter of a noble family that had close ties to Lelouch's mother, Empress Marianne, before her assassination seven years ago. They remained close with her children, Lelouch and Nunnally. However, under Byzantium's rule, their influence had decreased somewhat. However they still maintained some power among the other noble families of Germania's aristocratic class. She was one of the few people in the noble families that Lelouch trusted enough completely with some of his closely kept secrets that a select few knew about. She was quite a...'peculiar person', as Jack once said. He said that because her tastes and personality could make her seem as odd by most people. And it was true because she was a little strange in certain areas. But Lelouch managed to get Jack to ignore that for most of the time and look past it all. And Jack hadn't seen her since Lelouch and Kallen's wedding some months ago. Now he was wondering why Eisler was bringing up her name of all people in this trial.

"Milly? I'm sorry but is there a point to that question?" asked Jack, slightly confused.

"I agree. Nothing we have been given gave any mention of a Milly Ashford. What is the meaning of this?" demanded the High Judge, also wondering the purpose of this line of questioning.

"I promise your Honor, there is a point to all of this," assured Eisler.

"Then could you please skip the foreplay and just get to the point before I have these questions stricken from the record?" inquired the High Judge, growing quite impatient. He wasn't one who like being ambushed with evidence that one side had been holding out on. To him, if there was to be a battle, then they should have all their cards out and not employ such subterfuge in his own courtroom. Eisler nodded his head, acknowledging that he understood.

He then proceeded to the next piece of evidence he had to present to the court. His aide took out some papers, two sets of particular documents, from a briefcase and gave them to Eisler when he walked over to him. With the papers in his hand, he gave one set to the High Judge, then confidently strolled to face Jack and slammed them upon his desk. As Jack went on to read the documents, Eisler explained to the Judges "These documents were not very easy to find. It appears that Corporal Lawrence took great pains to keep them hidden. And it is apparent why once you read them. It is a list of transactions between the Corporal and Miss Ashford. For the past several months, the Corporal has managed to divert several thousand dollars each month to her via an unspecified account. He says that he has no loyalty to the Nazi Empire. But then if that was true, why is he sending large sums of money to a German noblewoman?"

Jack was completely left in shock. He had hoped this was kept a secret, with only him and Milly knowing about this. The reasons as to why he was doing this he kept a secret. But whatever Eisler was implying in his twisted view of the facts, the real reason Jack was sending money to her were reason secret. Milly made him promise to keep this a secret, and Jack wasn't one for breaking promises, no matter what the circumstances. But if he didn't tell the truth here and now, it may be the choice that may cause his life. Now was a crisis of faith: tell the truth and betray the trust placed in him by his friend or be silent and end up being sent to his death. None of which seemed tempting situations for him at the moment. Ellet and Varrot could see that as well for their faces were filled with some worry as well. With this bit of new information, Ellet was not sure what to write and Varrot had no idea how to defend him. The trial was about to take an interesting turn.

* * *

_Meanwhile, Back at Fort Amaranthine_

_Squad 7 Barracks_

As a precaution taken by Damon, in order to ensure that Squad 7 couldn't help bring evidence to exonerate Jack, he had the entire unit placed under house arrest and posted MP's at the main entrance to keep them all confined inside with no possible way out. Damon wasn't taking any chances with this and was going to take every precaution he could to make this farce trial produce a favorable outcome for him and the rest of Gallian High Command...though mostly for him. The Squad could do nothing now but stay where they were. Because Damon instructed his men to not allow any single member of the Squad out under any circumstance. And he gave them the authority to arrest any who do and charge them as accomplices of Jack in his 'treasonous acts'. Inside the Squad's Rec Room, Welkin called in the rest of the Squad because Alistair said he may have an idea how they could get Jack out of this.

"Now look, all these idiots know about Jack is that he's a distinguished veteran from the Soviet-American War. However, they seem to have ignored one critical fact: He's a member of the most prominent, wealthy, and influential family within America," explained Alistair as he began explaining his plan to them.

"Yeah, we remember Jack mentioning that. How exactly is that going to help us?" questioned Largo, not seeing where this was going.

"Hello, don't you see? Jack's father can pressure the United States to pull all their support for Gallia. This means he can threaten to take away all of the supplies that are being shipped here. Your generals are stupid, but they know that Gallia can't survive without this pipeline," delivered Alistair, showing the full point to this. Welkin could see the wisdom in this. If the Americans threatened to take away all of the lifelines they had established with Gallia, the Germans would roll over the rest the country in a matter of weeks. It would certainly be useful leverage for them to use against Damon. There was just one question about this however.

"Okay so let's say that we do this. How are we supposed to get this evidence to Jack and not be arrested by the MP's outside?" asked Welkin.

"Well I don't know how to get past the MP's but I do know how to present the evidence," explained Alistair. However, he decided to show them instead of tell them. For as if on cue, someone came through the main door, somehow managing to convince the MP's to let his past. In came a tall man wearing a dark grey overcoat with two piece black business suit and tie underneath. His shoes were fancy and made of fine black leather. The man wore a fedora the same color as his overcoat which he took off when he came inside. The final piece of his outfit was this engraved walking stick that he used to help him walk. He appeared to be a man about fifty years old, his graying hair combed, and his face sporting some gray stubble. His blue eyes seemed weary for he appeared to have taken a long trip in order to get here.

The man wasted no time, shaking Welkin's hand and introducing himself "Good day, Lieutenant Gunther. I'm Arron Lawrence, Secretary of State of the United States of America. I hear you need some help in clearing my son's name."

* * *

**Surprise! Jack's father has finally arrived into the story! This chapter now raises some questions. Why was Jack sending thousands of dollars to his acquaintance back in Germania? How will Squad 7 get past the MP's? And will Jack be exonerated once and for all, or be sent to a terrible end via firing squad?**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	64. Jack's Trial Part-2: The Verdict

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Ten minutes later_

Although Squad 7 was left surprised by what the revelation as to who the man was. They were standing face to face with Jack's father, the American Secretary of State. They knew that Alistair had pulled some strings to get some evidence for Jack that would help prove his innocence, but they never expected him to bring in Jack's father, a man who has considerable power and influence in the U.S. government. But that didn't mean they were going to overlook a certain opportunity to get Jack out. And with whatever his father could bring to the trial, whether it be a threat from the U.S. government or documents, it'll go a long way to help him. Right now they had to worry about how they would get past the MP's stationed outside who were supposed to arrest them if they ever tried to get out. And I doubt they would let them through even if they told them that they had a high level American diplomat with them. Since they were acting under orders from Damon himself, they would likely arrest them all anyway regardless of the consequences it might cause. That is, _if_ they could get them all.

After Arron Lawrence told them how they planned to prove Jack's innocence, Welkin managed to come up with a plan as to how they would be able to get there. Albeit, if this went wrong, they would all probably end up in prison for collaborating with Jack. But considering their situation at the moment, there wasn't much of a choice. So without many options available, the Squad went about working on his crazy plan. The two guards outside the main door had no idea what was coming. As they were calmly standing guard, alert to all that was happening in their immediate area, they heard what sounded like a crash from inside the barracks. At first, they simply paid no attention to it. After all, it could have been just that a member of the Militia squad inside could have just dropped something that had shattered on the ground. But after they began hearing several more crashes upon the ground, they began to suspect that something was definitely wrong. Slowly reaching for the guns tucked into their holsters, they turned to face the door as one of them shouted out "Is everything all right in there?"

They heard nothing so they decided that they should investigate whatever happened. They opened the door and entered the barracks with their pistols drawn. They didn't make it two steps when they were suddenly whacked in the face with flat and heavy objects that knocked them out instantly as they reached the end of the entrance corridor. With their unconscious bodies falling back onto the floor with a resounding thud, Jann and Hector appeared from behind the corners with rifles in their hands. They had used the butts of their rifles to incapacitate their two Gallian MP guards, and judging from how they didn't get back up at all, their efforts were successful. As the two put their rifles down and proceeded to drag the two MP's out of the way and into a closet, Vyse picked up the pistols that they had dropped and placed them back into their holsters (after he emptied their magazine clips that is). And as the door was shut and locked, Vyse remarked "Those guys are in for one hell of a surprise when they wake up."

"Not to mention a huge headache," added Hector.

Once the door was officially locked, Jann looked behind him to see Welkin, Alicia, Rosie, Largo, Isara, and Arron Lawrence ready and waiting. After giving them the all clear, the small group headed towards the door and exited the barracks. Arron informed them that he had a car parked right outside the fortress walls and that they would use it to get to the courthouse in Randgriz. They would have to leave quickly so they would at least have a head start on Damon and the MP's. It would only be a matter of time before someone noticed the missing guards and reported it. And once Damon got word of it, he would call in everything he had to try and stop them before they reached the courthouse with the evidence that would exonerate Jack. Thankfully, thanks to the Gassenarl's mission to the Ardennes, much of the fort's garrison was sent with them, leaving only a small portion of the guards that it possessed a few days ago. This allowed them to move through the compound quite swiftly and unseen. Arron approached the guard stationed at the front gate and distracted him long enough with him signing out so that the Gallians could sneak under the guard's nose and into the car which surprisingly was a limo large enough to fit them all. Once Arron was done stalling, he joined the group inside his car and signaled for the driver to start.

"Onward then Edward, we don't want to be late. Trials are messy enough as it is," commented Arron.

"Of course sir. We'll be there shortly," replied Edward the driver. He ignited the Ragnite powered engine and the car drove off down the road towards the city of Randgriz.

As they drove off, Largo, with a question in his mind, looked to Jack's father and asked him bluntly "Just how do you plan on getting Jack off the hook and not in front of a firing squad?"

"I had an old associate of Jack dig up on some things and gather a few witnesses. Luckily there were some witnesses near the Gallian-French border. They'll be there outside the courthouse when we arrive. That is, if they don't catch up to us before then," explained Arron, hinting at what exactly he had in store for them at the trial.

* * *

_Damon's Office_

_Seven minutes later_

Damon was sitting in his lavish office, drinking some fine brandy as he awaited the results of the trial. He could already imagine one of the MP's coming into his office at any moment and inform him that Corporal Jackson Alexander Lawrence has been found guilty and would be executed by firing squad at dawn. It was almost too easy...and that was just fine with Damon. To him, soon that lousy American would be dead, his name forever tarnished with treason, and all of Gallian High Command would once again be in the good graces of the people and the government. Everything was proceeding exactly as he had imagined. And within a few days, the Gassenarl siblings will have defeated the Black Prince, creating a crushing blow to the German Army as well as putting putting Squad 7 out of the limelight and High Command back into it. And he would have to do nothing but just sit back, enjoy his drink, and wait for someone to tell him the news that he was waiting to hear.

And just as he poured some more brandy into his empty glass, a Gallian Sergeant in the Military Police came into his office, stood in front of Damon, saluted him, then reported "Sir, there's something you should know."

Damon asked with a grin "Oh then? What is it? Has the trial finished already?"

"Uh, not really sir. It's more about the Militia's Seventh Platoon," answered the nervous MP.

"Oh really, what's the problem with those peasants now?" complained Damon as he was taking a sip from his glass. What the MP said next, took Damon completely by surprise.

"Sir, five members of the unit escaped the barracks and are on their way to the Randgriz courthouse," informed the MP. Damon was so caught off guard that he choked on his drink and spat some out in sheer surprise.

After a few more seconds of coughing, Damon managed to catch his breath and sputtered out in shock "What?! H-How did they get out?! You said they were secured!"

"I thought they were. The next shift of guards showed up and the men they were relieving weren't there. They went to investigate and found them knocked out and locked inside of a closet. Several members of the Squad managed to get out and are on their way to Randgriz in a car," explained the MP as best as he could.

"How the hell did they get a car?! The motorpool is under strict watch! They shouldn't have managed to get transport to the city at all!" informed a now furious Damon.

The MP simply shrugged before explaining to Damon "I don't know sir. All I know is that five members of the Seventh Platoon are unaccounted for and they're heading towards the capital."

"Well don't just stand there! Get after them! I'm not letting this go unanswered!" cried Damon as he got up from his seat and dragged the Sergeant out. Damon had put too much into framing the American to let his unit screw everything up.

* * *

_Randgriz Courthouses_

_Ten minutes later_

Jack could already hear the drums sound off for the firing squad going off right now. Things seemed to be going from bad to worse as the minutes passed on by. If Eisler was sent by Damon to paint him as the picture Nazi sympathizer, he seemed to be doing a bang up job at doing so. No doubt his mention of Milly Ashford and the money meant that Eisler must have managed to away a few of the Judges. If this continued, then there would be little to no hope that Jack would be able to get out of this situation alive. Right now, he was silently sitting a chair at the Defense's table, next to Varrot, his face buried in his hands as he silently prayed to every God, deity, or spiritual figure he could think of to get him out of this mess by any means necessary. So far however, none of his prayers were being answered and he was running out of people to pray to. Taking his face out of his hands, he looked over the the High Judge who was already speaking about the evidence against Jack so far.

"As you can see Corporal, this doesn't look very good for you. Your friendship with the Prince as well as this money you send to a German noblewoman is not exactly helping your case at the moment. You do know that we're currently fighting a war against the Nazi Empire correct?" said the High Judge, laying down all the facts present to them.

"Um...uh...yes. Yes I do," answered Jack with a slight stutter.

"So do you understand that this trial will determine whether or not you are a Nazi sympathizer and from what we can tell there's damnable evidence that shows you are one. It seems that we may have no choice but to bring the full weight of Gallian law upon you," explained the High Judge, continuing to explain the dire circumstances Jack was facing. At the sound of those words, all of Jack's hope was now officially gone. He lost, and Damon's little circle of conspirators had won. This was the end of the line for Jack which would leave him with five holes in his chest and a white blindfold on his head. All he could do now was wallow in self pity as all the choices he made in his life ran through his mind. People say that when one knows that he's about to die, their whole life flashes before their eyes. Well right now it seemed to be true to Jack because that's what he was experiencing right about now. And there was absolutely no way that this day could get any worse.

"I...I understand your Honor," said Jack solemnly, having lost all hope. Two MP's then approached Jack and asked him to stand up. Not even attempting to resist them, Jack reluctantly, but with no choice in the matter, stood up from his desk and held out his hands while the MP's placed handcuffs on him.

The High Judge and his counterparts were surprised how quickly this young man had just given up. They expected him to at least say something, maybe put up a little fight against the MP's. But instead he just surrendered as of all the fight in him was gone. Hoping to get some response, one of the Judges looked to him and asked "Don't you have anything to say in your own defense son?"

"I..I just wanted to help," said Jack as his head was lowered in defeat. His reply stunned the Judges as they were at a loss for words. But the evidence seemed to speak for itself. His friendship to the Prince, and his mysterious association with Miss Milly Ashford, a German noblewoman, with whom he will not divulge the details of their association makes him look all the more guilty. There is little they can do but pronounce him as guilty.

And as the Gallian MP's escorted him past the Judges, Jack made one last prayer as he looked up, saying "God, if you can hear me I could use a little help."

As if on cue, the court doors opened, the guards escorting Jack stop right at the middle aisle, and all heads turned to look at the door. Several people came through the door and Jack recognized them as the faces of Welkin, Alicia, Isara, Largo and Rosie come through them, striding down the center aisle with several other behind them whom Jack couldn't see. In surprise, Jack looked back up as if looking to God and remarked "Wow. You work fast."

"Yankee, the cavalry has arrived. Duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh!" sang Rosie with a small cavalry tune at the end.

Their entrance made quite an impression, as the High Judge looked to Varrot and asked her "Who are these people Captain?"

"Uh, your Honor these are Corporal Lawrence's squad mates from Squad 7. This is Lieutenant Welkin Gunther, his commanding officer, along with Sergeants Alicia Melchiott and and Largo Potter, and finally Corporals Bridgette Stark and Isara Gunther. As for the others, I...don't know," answered Varrot as she called off the names of those present but fell short on answering who their mysterious guests were for she had no idea who they were.

They received their answer when the man in the dark grey overcoat moved to the front and revealed his face to Jack, who was actually quite surprised to see his father. With the surprise on his face evident in his voice, Jack sputtered out the following words "D-Dad? What are you doing here?"

"Getting you out of trouble..._again_," answered Jack's father, leaving emphasis on the last word, implying to the others that this wasn't the first time he did this. Jack could only meekly smile at his father as in the back of his mind he could already imagine his father was going to give him one hell of a stern talk when this was all over. And the last time he and his father had one of those talks was just before Jack went off to Alaska after he had enlisted.

It seemed however that Jack's dad had drawn the attention of the whole courtroom, the Judges most of all. In response to this sudden entrance, the High Judge looked to Arron Lawrence and asked him bluntly "Um, excuse me? I hate to be crass here but who the hell are you and why have you interrupted this trial?"

"My apologies, I suppose introductions are in order. I'm Arron Lawrence, the Secretary of State for the United States of America. And I've come demanding that you release my son at once," informed Arron, pointing to the still handcuffed Jack in the last part of his sentence. The Prosecution and the Judges all gave a slight gasp and widened their eyes in surprise and shock. Here, standing before them was one of the most powerful men in the United States of America, Gallia's only ally whose supplies were a lifeline for the Gallian military. And what surprised them most, Eisler especially, was the Jack here was his son. This was definitely something that Eisler wasn't told about by Damon. He was assured by his superior that he had nothing to worry about for the trial and that there would be no political backlash from this because their case was airtight. But now that Lawrence's father, a big shot in the American government knew about this, then things were about to get real complicated, really fast.

Jack noticed Eisler's nervous face and mocked to him "Overlooked something real important didn't ya?"

Eisler didn't say anything for he was too in shock. The High Judge however managed to say a few words though. He had regained his normal composure and looked back at Arron Lawrence. Just because the Defendant's father was an important government figure, that didn't mean he was off the hook. He reminded Arron "Sir, regardless of who you are or the nation you represent, it doesn't change anything here. Your son here is a known and close acquaintance of a Prince of the very nation we are fighting against. While I'm hesitant to convict him based on that, he has been sending money to a German noblewoman. That alone earns him a conviction on the fact that he's aiding and abetting the enemy."

"My son is a lot of things, but a Nazi isn't one of them. His friendship with Lelouch is that, just a friendship. And as for the money, I can explain that," said Arron, beginning his explanation. He then looked behind him and motioned for someone to come forward. In fact, two people came forward. A middle aged man and a Darcsen girl around Jack's age. When Rosie saw the Darcsen, she kept her distance as to her nature. and dislike for their kind They were both wearing old clothing with some parts of it patched up, showing it's age even further as well as how poor these people seemed to be. The middle aged man was wearing an old newsboy cap, a dull brown jacket and white undershirt, as well as patched up pants and scuffed up shoes. His Darcsen companion wore clothing similar to what Isara wore on the day that Bruhl fell over a month ago. From the dress to the shawl she looked like an older version of Isara but with several differences. Her hair was longer and was tied in a ponytail, and much of her hair was covered that shawl she had tied to cover her head. Her dress was also in a darker color, slightly dirty, and had several patch jobs on it as well. All in all, these people appeared to belong to the poorest class of people such as beggars or the homeless.

Eisler, a noble himself, took offense to this and shouted out "Are bleeding serious?! This is what you bring to prove your son's supposed innocence?! A lowly peasant and a filthy Dark-hair?!"

Jack ends up mumbling to himself "God, can you please shut this guy up?"

Everyone ignored his comment and continued to keep their attention upon Arron and the two people he brought before them all. He pointed them out and explained to the Judges "These two here are examples of what my son's work. While it's true that my son has been sending money to Milly Ashford, the money wasn't for what you think. Ashford runs an underground railroad that helps smuggle Darcsens and other so called undesirables out of the Reich into neighboring countries so that they can board ships and head over to America. He's not a Nazi, he's a kind man who cares about people. Which is more than I can say for whatever son-of-a-bitch who set this whole thing up!"

Hearing that last sentence, Eisler slowly and awkwardly turned his whole body away from Arron, as if he thought that he was the one being implied in his words. The others in the room, aside from Jack that is, were actually quite surprised by their words. It surprised them that the woman in Germania Jack was sending the money to wasn't using it for a Nazi project but in fact an operation to undermine their efforts. The Nazis create a wave of refugees that flee from their country every generation throughout their three thousand year existence. They also knew that there were Darcsens that always tried to escape Nazi slavery and make it to bordering nations. There they would reach the coast and board ships that took them to the United States; to a new life. However, the Germans guarded their borders fiercely, which made it quite difficult for escapes. Hearing that a German noblewoman of all people was in charge of a network that helped these refugee's was a surprise to them.

Jack finally decided on where he was in admitting the truth. At first he was reluctant to break the promise he made with Milly about keeping this all a secret. But considering that his father, whom he told in the strictest confidence, just told the court about it, he guessed that now was as good a time as any. With a small cough to clear his throats, he got the Judges attention before speaking "Look. Before Milly set up shop, three out of five people who tried to escape from Germania would have been captured. As punishment, the Nazis would have seen them executed or sent to the concentration camps. Me giving her that money just made her job a little easier. I'm guilty. But not for giving aid to the enemy. I'm guilty because I tried to do some good for a whole lot of people. And if that makes me a criminal, then you can shoot me then. Because _I_ made a difference!"

The Judges were taken aback by his statement. Just five minutes, this man was willing to just give up and go to his apparent death. Now here he was, justifying what he did and helping these poor souls as if he was doing it as a favor to God and the Valkyrur. By now, they were starting to get convinced that this man was truly and completely innocent. Before they could proceed any further, in came General Damon through the main doors. He barged in and strode up the main aisle as furious as one can be. Once he reached the head of the group, he looked to the two MP's holding Jack and screamed "YOU TWO! ONCE YOU TWO ARE DONE WITH THE RUNT, TAKE HIS COMRADES AND THROW THEM IN THE STOCKADE! THOSE FIVE ARE AWOL!"

"And it took this guy what? Ten minutes to find that out?" mocked Jack, deciding to have a little fun with the situation.

Damon however ignored the comment, and looked to the Judges and proclaimed "Your Honors, these Militia soldiers have broken several military laws! They knocked out two MP's, sneaked out of base while under house arrest, and their testimony shows their collaboration with this...this traitor!"

"I wouldn't try and continue this charade if I was you General," warned Jack, knowing full well now in his head how this was going to end.

And apparently so did the Judges. They all looked at each other and whispered back and forth to each other about the case, with their voices so low the others in the courtroom couldn't hear them. And after about ten minutes of deliberation, where every second seemed like an eternity, they nodded their heads in agreement on whatever they were talking about. As they all looked back upon all the people in attendance, the High Judge spoke, announcing "After some deliberation, we've all agreed that the evidence presented against Lawrence is not enough to convict him. That is why we move for a verdict of not guilty."

Jack immediately let out a cheerful shout and started saying "Yes" repeatedly that he wasn't about to be lead to the firing squad. He continued like this for fifteen seconds before pointing to Damon, shocked by the verdict, and laughingly cheered "How do you like me now "Il Douchebag"? I win and you lose! I laugh at you! HA HA HA HA HA!"

However, Damon wasn't done yet. In one last attempt to turn things back his way, he regained his composure, looked to the Judges and said "I will not stand for this! This punk is a Nazi sympathizer and I intend to see him thrown in a cell! I don't care if it's the last thing I ever do! I will see this traitor thrown in a cell and left to rot-"

Damon never got to finish his rant when Arron shoved a piece of paper at him, stopping his worthless speech before it could go any further. While Damon was beginning to talk, Arron quickly wrote down on a piece of paper something that would end this once and for all. Damon took that paper and read it over. His eyes widened in shock as he looked to Arron in the blink of an eye and sputtered out the question "You-you wouldn't dare?!"

"Try me," shot back Arron. At this point, Damon had had enough. He crumpled the paper and threw it across the room before stomping off in a fit of frustration. Eisler and his aide, seeing that this crusade had failed, followed suit. With their part now over, Varrot, Ellet, and the Judges decided to leave the room. The two MP's guarding Jack removed the handcuffs, officially making Jack a free man once more. The moment he was freed, he went up to his dad and gave him a big hug while saying the words "Thank you" repeatedly, as if this was the last thing he was ever going to say.

His father, smiled at the gesture. He released himself from Jack's grip and stated "You don't have to say that so many times."

"Well you just saved my life. I don't know how else to thank you. If it wasn't for you, the sound of five rifles going off at the same time was about the last thing that I would have heard," pointed out Jack.

"What did you write on that piece of paper anyway?" inquired a curious Isara.

Arron smiled and answered "I told Damon who I was and that if he didn't drop this ridiculous crusade I would pull all U.S. support for Gallia and challenged him to see how long he would last without our help."

"Ha ha. You are one crafty guy. Probably the first politician that I've ever liked," said Largo, remarking on how devious Arron's tactic was.

"Well either way. Jack, try not to get yourself in these situations again. I can't keep bailing you out," reminded Arron, turning his attention back to his son.

"Okay. I got it. But still, thanks for saving my ass. All of you," thanked Jack, looking to everyone present, even the two refugee's.

"You may not be thanking me when I tell you how I got these two over here. I had to call in a favor from an 'acquaintance' of yours. She arranged for them to be here and she came along with me to help you. In fact, she's here now," mentioned Arron, his expression changing at the uttering of those words. Jack was a little confused as to who it was his father was talking about. He ran every friend, acquaintance, or ally that could have possibly pulled this off. Seeing that his son couldn't figure it out on his own, Arron leaned in and whispered it into his ear. Jack's expression quickly changed to that of being confused, to shock. Apparently whoever this person was, it was someone that Jack clearly wasn't expecting to hear from.

"NO! NO, NO, NO, NO, A MILLION TIMES NO! YOU BROUGHT _HER_ HERE?!" cried out Jack to his father, in a tone of voice that was a combination of both surprise, anger, and fear. Apparently this person left quite a mark on Jack. The other Squad 7 members stood there confused about what it was that Jack was so worried about. But one thing was certain. This person must be someone that Jack had a really bad encounter with if he was acting like this.

"Jack. It's been almost a year. You need to talk to her," said his father quite plainly.

"Why on Earth would I want to talk to her?! Don't you remember how it ended between us?!" shouted Jack, completely surprised that his father would bring _her_ here after how badly things ended between _her_ and Jack.

"Because I told you so. Now if you don't mind, I have someplace I need to be. Good day," replied Arron. And without another word, he turned on his heel, and escorted the two refugee's out of the courtroom. He would help escort them back to the U.S. where they could be free and build a new life for them and their families who were already en route to Boston.

Jack however, was still incredulous over what his father had just done. Jack looked in despair as his father walked away. As his father headed closer to the door, he could hear his son's hysterical pleas** "Dad?! Come on! This isn't funny! Please tell me this a joke?! Come on, I'm going to go postal here! I'm not kidding, I'm this close! I've had a very bad few days here and I don't need any more at the moment! Dad?! This is a cruel and unusual punishment here, and you're a sadistic human being for doing this! Daaaaaaaaaad?!"**

However, Jack's pleas fell on deaf ears. Without even turning his head, Jack's father and the two refugee's exited through the doors and disappeared. Now Jack was freaking out. He was on the verge of bolting right out of this room before he would be very reluctantly reunited with this person from his past. Normally he was okay with meeting people from his past, as long as they didn't try to _kill_ him in the past. Though this particular person didn't exactly try to kill him, at least not intentionally, she still wasn't someone that Jack was willing to see at the moment. In sheer panic and desperation, he looked to his squad mates, who still had no idea what was going on, and begged them "I will give you guys whatever you want if you guys will get me the hell out of here!"

Welkin, deciding to confront this, asked him "Jack, what is going on here? Who are you so afraid of seeing?"

"Me," answered a female voice from one of the side entrances. All of them looked to the source of the voice, with Jack managing to gather his courage and turning around last. The woman, in particular, was an eighteen year old woman, about five foot-six, and wearing a British Army officer's khaki uniform and officer's cap, which she took off and tucked under her arm. She had a flawless complexion, brown hair tied up in a long pony tail, eyes the same color as her hair, a few medals on her uniform jacket, the most prominent one being the Victoria Cross. She also had a jade pendent necklace tied around her neck. She walked over to Jack with a nervous look in her face as well as in her stride. Aside from that fact however, there was one way to describe this woman: "a British bombshell beauty".

Jack, managing to quickly recover his composure and said in a cold tone "Lara...it's been a while."

"Yeah. Yeah it has," replied Lara, now standing in front of Jack and having regained her composure as well. The two radiated a tense and awkward aura that seemed to surround them in their little reunion. She looked Jack over and commented "You...you look well. Considering I just saved your ass again. What's that make this? The hundredth time?"

"Ninety-nine Lieutenant. It's ninety-nine," corrected Jack.

"It's Captain now Jack. I got promoted a few months ago," notified Lara, informing him of what he missed.

"Oh, you're a Captain now? I guess it makes you my superior again?" asked Jack, with a fake smile on his face.

Lara let out a brief giggle before responding "Yeah. I suppose. I still think I'd refer to your judgement though. You were always a better leader than me."

Welkin and the others watch this unfold and tried their best to follow up on what was going on, but there were still a few gaps they need to fill. Those gaps being; Who is this girl? How do the two of them know each other? And what was all this tense and awkwardness between the two about anyway? Rosie was he one to first ask what they all had on their minds by inquiring to Jack "Um, could one of you please explain to us what's going on here?"

Jack let out a sigh before explaining "Welkin, Isara, Alicia, Rosie, Largo, meet _Captain_ Lara Croft, British Army. She and I served together in Alaska against the Soviets in the same squad. I was the squad leader and she was my second-in-command."

"So, you two were comrades?" asked Largo.

Lara, although initially hesitant, added "Yeah, we were. And in between the final months of the war, and a few days after it ended...Jack and I were once engaged to be married."

* * *

**SURPRIIIIIIIIIISE! I bet you didn't see this one coming did you? Not the verdict I mean because I'm pretty sure that you all knew how this court martial would end eventually. I mean the fact that Jack was actually engaged before he came to Gallia. I thought I'd surprise you guys. I've been waiting a loooooooong time to put his ex-fiancee up in this story. And only a few people whom through PM's knew of Lara and her relationship with Jack.**

**The Lara I'm using in this story is the one being used in the reboot series, most notably in the 2013 Tomb Raider and it's squeal Rise of the Tomb Raider. There are a few slight differences between the one in the games and this one, the major one of them all is that she serves in the British Army.**

**As for the "Il Douchebag" thing. I can tell you this. I got the idea from the title "Il Duce", translated to "The Leader" from Italian which was used for Benito Mussolini, the Italian Fascist dictator of World War II. So essentially my version translates to "The Douchebag". And considering who Damon is, I thought it fit rather well.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	65. Byzantium's Grand Plan

**Sorry for the long wait everyone. I've had to deal with exams and other personal stuff. It's been a pain to deal with and an even bigger pain trying to find some actual time to write this all out. I just thought that I'd let you know that I've updated some of my chapters. I misstakingly named the Theimer Heavy Tanks the Belgen Gunther tanks and have corrected it. I have also updated the pysical description of Iohan Comescu, the Darcsen SS Lieutenant. And finally I have given the Randgriz Royal Guard and gave them a more ceremonial helmet. Just thought you all should know. Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_"This was an...unexpected turn of events to say the least. Just when I thought my few bad days had come to an end, I get a surprise I wasn't expecting nor wanted: My ex-fiancee Lara Croft, showing up in a war-torn Gallia of all places. She and I had a bit of history together. __Much of it was good, but due to recent events between the two of us it actually hurt to call up on those happy memories._

_Lara came from a well known family just like me, except hers was one of the best well known noble families in all of England. Our fathers were good friends and were quite close. Of course, Lara and I didn't actually meet until 1932. __She and I were part of the same squad during the Soviet-American War. Lara was part of a group of British recruits sent to Alaska as a volunteer unit to fight alongside us. I sort of...developed a crush on her during our basic training before we were shipped off to the front as some of the newly minted members of the 101st Airborne._

_Sadly, we were also part of the detail that was assigned to defend the city of Anchorage. And well, the Russians launched poison gas, killed most of the soldiers, there were only a few of us left, blah, blah, blah, the story of my life really. __After Anchorage, I was assigned as a Lieutenant and she became a Sergeant as well as my second-in-command. And also we had developed a romantic relationship that went on throughout the whole war. It would have been even greater if we went through with our wedding...but it didn't exactly go as I had planned. After our split, we haven't talked or seen each other in almost a year...until that day." - Jack Lawrence._

The awkwardness and tension in the air was clearly evident as Welkin, Alicia, Isara, Largo, and Rosie were bearing witness to the reunion between Jack and his ex-fiancée. To Welkin, this was quite a surprise since in all the time that he ha known Jack, not onCe had the man mentioned that he was once engaged to be married, much less engaged to a very attractive woman like Lara Croft. Normally he'd never flirt with women, that being Faldio's area of expertise. Welkin just figured that he always had bad luck with women. Lucina punching Jack in the face, breaking his nose in the process was a clear enough example that helped to solidify that theory. But as of five minutes ago, that whole theory had just been shot to hell.

Alicia, still trying to wrap her head around all this, immediately broke the silence and pointed from Jack to Lara, asking "Wait a minute. _You_, used to be engaged to _her_?"

"Ugh. Yes, I was engaged once. Is that so hard to believe?" complained Jack. The rest of the group nodded and said yes in unison, further cementing Jack's disbelief in this.

"Just how long have you been in Gallia Jack?" asked Lara, trying to change the conversation.

"I've been hear since late August. My dad, whom you hitched a ride with to get here, sent to the University of Randgriz to study. I've even made a few friends as well," commented Jack, a bit of anger evident in his voice.

Lara let out a light chuckle before admitting "I can see that. And to my surprise you've befriended the infamous Welkin Gunther."

Welkin, a bit surprised that she knew his name, asked sincerely "Um, have we met before? Because I'm pretty sure we would have if you already know my name."

Lara looked to him and simply answered to Welkin with a smile "The BBC report last night was played all over England, the Federation, and even America. Everyone knows your name now Gunther. And I must say, it's an honor to make you acquaintence."

Jack could only roll his eyes over this. Yet again, Welkin managed to get some girl to admire him all of a sudden. But this hurt Jack a little bit because this particular girl was the one he was going to marry once. But then again, at least it wasn't Faldio. He would have just flirted with her before asking her out right in front of Jack. Jack pretty much summed up that it would just be worse on an entirely different matter. But either way, this wasn't exactly something that he wanted to be dealing with at all. And he had some suspicions about why Lara was here and he was pretty sure that it wasn't just to bail him out. And he was going to find out...even though he wouldn't like to.

"Lara, why are you even here?" Asked Jack woefully, not liking the fact that she was here in the first place.

"I came because I wanted to talk to you Jack," truthfully answered Lara, bracing herself for the inevitable reply that she knew Jack was going to say.

And then, true to her belief, Jack responded coldly with "That's where you're wrong. I don't have anything to say to you."

Without another word, Jack turned on his heel and walked towards the door out of the courtroom. Jack and Lara had a rocky relationship, if not one that was virtually non-existent for the past year, and Jack wasn't willingly going to be sucked back into this again. This was something from his past that he buried. And something that he wanted to stay buried, no matter how much it would come back to haunt him. However, he would have to contend with Lara's stubbornness, which was known to rival his own. Almost immediately after Jack left for the door, Lara went right after him, saying "I'm not done with you."

This in turn set up a whole argument between the two going back and forth as they made their way through the door and even as they left the courtroom.

"Well I don't want to talk to you."

"Will you just-"

"No."

"Are you going to listen-"

"I don't care."

"Ugh. You are the most stubborn-"

"I'm not listening."

All the while as they walked out, Welkin, Alicia, Isara, Rosie, and Largo watched this unfold with a bit on confusion evident upon their faces. They were still reeling from the revelation that Jack once had a fiancée and that fiancée was in fact a very beautiful British girl named Lara. Now they were left with more questions than answers. And just when they were finished getting Jack out of one problem, his past came up and sucked them all into another one. They just never seemed to catch a break.

* * *

_Meanwhile, at the Ghirlandaio Fortress_

Ghirlandiao Fortress was now under tighter guard because of the two important guests that have been staying there for the past few days. These two guests were the Kaiser and Kaiserina of Germania, Byzantium and Hrist zi Britannia. Ever since the two of them have arrived, they have been personally overseeing this invasion with a fine toothed comb, making sure that this gamble they diverted all these resources too actually yields them some rewards. They risked a lot in their plans by supporting Maximilian's proposal to invade Gallia, and they weren't going to allow his screw ups to embarrass them any further than they had already done so far. They were now pining the hopes of this invasion on the shoulders of Lelouch. But even so, they weren't worried. They knew without a doubt that he would be successful and take Randgriz before the month was out.

Byzantium and Hrist have resided in the main quarters, which have been converted to suit someone worthy of their titles. It was filled with elaborate furniture, paintings, engravings and more that we're all made from the finest of materials available. It was to be expected for someone who a couple who were the supreme leaders of the mightiest empire ever to exists in Europa's history. The couple themselves were inside this room today, but Byzantium was not wearing his signature trademark Inquisitor armor he normally wore. Instead, he was wearing something most people in Germania outside his family, Generals, and Government officials ever saw. He was wearing a ceremonial military uniform that he only wore among those three groups of people. The armor was more of a public image thing for him to make himself appear as the powerful leader that his country was known for. This didn't mean that the facade was for nothing for he was a powerful man, but that meant that he didn't intend to instill fear among his enemies both at home and abroad.

His uniform was jet black and made of the finest cloth available to his tailors, covered in military medals, had a sword and pistol attached to his belt with each weapon within their respectable sheathe or holster, and an officer's cap as well. Even wearing this uniform instead of his armor he was still an intimidating person because one could finally see the rest of his face that he had kept hidden underneath his helmet. His eye color an abnormal shade of grey, his facial features chiseled upon his handsome face, short and combed black hair on his head, and a menacing glare by any who looked at him.

Currently, Byzantium was looking at the mirror as he looked over the final touches of his uniform. Just as he finished them and placed his officer's cap upon his head, his wife, Hrist, appeared behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his right shoulder. She was wearing a Red Velvet colored bathrobe instead of her armor for she intended to relax today with her husband. As she twirled a strand of her sleek, raven colored hair, she looked into the mirror as well and asked her husband in a seductive and almost whining tone "Why do you have to go to work _now_? Can't you just stay here with me?"

Byzantium merely smirked and asked her "You know, talking like that isn't going to work on me all the time remember?"

Hrist immediately dropped her little facade and went down to sit on the edge of their bed, a look of irritation now upon her face. As her husband turned to face her, she stated "I still think that this is still a waste of time. Gallia may have resources we desire but a small country such as this seems hardly worth all the effort that we's put into taking it."

"I thought we already had this conversation Hrist," reminded Byzantium.

"Don't tell me that you honestly think that this tiny, insignificant nation warrants any attention from us? You and I both know that the plans we've set into motion are far more important," noted Hrist. She knew that Byzantium agreed with her on that. Both were well aware of Gallia and Germania's feud after their enemies helped the small nation become independent from the Reich over a century ago. This petty rivalry was something that interested neither of them, even when they signed off on Maximilian's plan to quickly take over the country. The two of them have long built up plans for something much grander, something that would make a victory in Gallia seem like nothing. But now, over the past few days, Hrist has noticed her husband taking a greater interest in the campaign here. She couldn't wrap her head around what could possibly interest her husband here. All she knew was that she deserved an answer from her husband as to that certain issue.

"Perhaps I do," replied Byzantium in a nonchalant tone.

Hrist merely scoffed in annoyance before accusing "You're hiding something from me. And I of all people have a right to know what it is and why."

"My dear. I haven't seen that level of mistrust since we first met. Need I remind you that you wouldn't be where you are now without me?" quoted Byzantium.

"I am very well aware of the bargain eighteen years ago. 'I need your help to achieve my goals, and you'll need my help for yours'. Those were your exact words. But we've been together in this bargain long enough for there to be no secrets between us. You know that as well as I Byzy," said Hrist, calling Byzantium by the little pet name she had given him in their first years together. She popped that name in her sentences whenever she wanted something, when she needed to inform him of recent developments, to annoy him, or just whenever she felt like it when the two of them were together.

Byzantium merely smiled at her and admitted "I know. But there is one thing you're forgetting. This bargain that has us bound together, demands a certain amount of trust. I've trusted you throughout the years."

He walks up to her, sits beside her, holds her by the chin, turns her head to face him. As he stared into her ruby red eyes he continued with "Have I not fulfilled the promises I made to you. Did I not have us become the rulers of an empire, with vast wealth and an army at our command? Because I remember plainly that I have. You shall have your revenge, and this world. And once all is over, and our enemies lay vanquished, we shall be known as the sole rulers over all mankind. Darling, you need to, what is it the American's say? Ah yes, 'have faith'. That's it.'

There was a moment of silence between the two as Hrist contemplated what Byzantium just told her. As usual, he always had a well put together response to her questions. It was always like this. The man always had a cool persona and had a plan for everything, as if he knew precisely what to do and how to do it. This was something she admired about her husband. He was always so sure of things and had faith in the intricate plans he had set into motion so long ago. He is the most confident man in the world to her. And that was one of the many reasons that she loved about him. And perhaps, this was reason enough to trust him. He had always done so with her, now it was her turn. He had gotten her this far, and he has lived up to his promises so far. In all essence he has done enough to earn her trust by now. Perhaps she should try and finally trust him now.

"Alright then. You have a point, as always," admitted Hrist in a more relaxed and calm tone of voice, showing her change from feeling hostile to her husband to be ping more sincere, a trait that Byzantium had over her.

A devious smile appeared on Byzantium's face as he ordered "Get changed darling. I have something important that I want to show you."

* * *

_Ten minutes later_

After Hrist got dressed back into her armor, which generally was her usual attire, she followed Byzantium into the War Room where German soldiers were working on the radios, listening for Intel given by soldiers on the front line. In the center of the table was a large map of Europa along with some of North Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. He had instructed the troops to prepare it for a demonstration that he was going to give to Hrist in order to explain his...tweaks to his original plan. He had set up little markers along the borders of France from four different nations on it's borders: Spain, Italy, Gallia, and most importantly, Germania. Hrist was admiringly curious as to what this was about, she had no doubt that Byzantium was about to explain it to her. And it had better be good.

Byzantium grabbed a pointed from off the table and began his explanation with "Now, let's just say that we take Gallia. We will have our old Province back as well as the vast stores of Ragnite it holds that will be beneficial for our efforts. But what if I tell you I discovered another possibility for us in a future endeavor?"

"What do you mean?" asked Hrist, curious as to what he was implying. Byzantium pointed to a marked line along the French-German border labeled 'Maginot Line', hinting at what he meant.

"Since the end of the Great War, France has been constructing the Maginot line, a bunch of fortifications along our borders in order to try and keep us from invading. The French are all but convinced that this line is unbreakable. However, the overlooked one fatal flaw: if we take Gallia, then we can go around it," explained Byzantium as he used his pointed to show the Maginot line didn't extend to France's border with Gallia, showing the weak spot in France's defenses. Hrist smiled a bit, actually amused by this.

Byzantium continued, pointing at Italy and Spain before continuing with "With Mussolini wrapped around my finger, Italy is all but ours. And our friend Franco's Fascist movement is gaining more momentum daily in Spain, eroding the support of the countries weak willed King. With Spain and Italy under our control, and with Britain's very recent decision to leave the Federation, France is the only real threat power in Western Europe with her only ally being the nation Portugal. And that...leaves what little is left of the Federation wide open and ripe for the taking."

Now Hrist was finally beginning to see what Byzantium saw, and it was so appeasing that a devious smile soon appeared on her face as well. To the two of them, the conquest of the Atlantic Federation was one of the main goals of their plans. This is due to the fact that the nations of the Federation had vast colonial empires throughout the world spanning from Africa, the Middle East, and in the vast continent of Asia. These territories offered vast resources, military bases, and more that would rival that of what they would have gained in the conquest of Gallia in all but land. And currently, the Federation itself is very vulnerable now. Great Britain had announced several months ago that it was planning to leave the Atlantic Federation and move on to a permanent alliance with the United States. And with Spain and Italy gradually becoming Nazi puppets, France was the only real power within the Federation alongside it's lesser member Portugal.

If Germania conquered the mainland Federation, then their colonies would be brought into the fold, and the Imperial Germanian Reich would be brought into the most powerful point in it's history. Then they would move on to the Balkan Confederacy, then the Soviet Union, and then America itself. And with the main powers out of the way, the world would soon fall before the Nazi Reich, and united under an Iron Sky once and for all. And if Lelouch conquered Randgriz, then this plan would surely become a reality very soon.

With a smile on her face and a little evil laugh, Hrist said "You truly have a devious mind here. I'm amazed that you saw this and that I didn't."

"It comes to me easily since my father had me study the politics and military of the modern world since I was old enough to read, write, and comprehend them," admitted Byzantium modestly.

Soon, a German soldier enters the room and hands him the latest message they had received via radio from the front. Byzantium quickly read over what the message said and he was quite pleased. Lelouch has already captured Aslone and he is moving his troops into position as the Gallians remain none the wiser about their last line actually having been breached. And what's more, his officers assigned to the Ardennes base have just repelled a large Gallian force sent to destroy them, inflicting heavy losses among the Gallian forces. Two more victories under the German Army's belt with more on the way. Byzantium smiled at the news for in his head, he could see his troops striding down the streets of Randgriz, and then perhaps...all of Europa.

* * *

_At the Ardennes Base_

After their victory against the Gallain forces led by the Gassenarl siblings, Isaac and Lightning, along with their forces, have returned to the supply bases and are welcomed by triumphant cheers from the garrison. They whistle, cheer, and clap as the trucks return with their forces on board. It appears that the victory, having been led by two members of the Black Knights no less, has greatly improved the morale of the men and women here. The trucks parked inside the main compound and the conquering heroes exited their vehicles to mingle with their comrades. As Lightning and Isaac stepped down, they were approached by the Sergeant in charge of the base. He gave them a quick salute before getting right down to business and informing them "Welcome back Colonel, Mistress Lightning. While you were gone we had some...unexpected guests arrive into camp."

"Define 'unexpected' Sergeant," said Lightning, raising her eyebrow upon the Sergeant's mention of 'unexpected'.

"It's the _SS_ ma'am. Command sent them over as reinforcements. Their leader wants to talk to you. He's waiting in the command building," explained the German Sergeant. Lightning and Isaac made their way to the command building for the German forces guarding the supply bases. As it came into sight, they saw two _SS_ soldiers with Kar98k's posted right outside the door, a clear enough example as to how their commander was awaiting them. The two soldiers gave them a quick salute as the two officers entered the building. When they entered, they spotted a man in the _SS_ black uniform sitting at the large table in the middle with his field cap covering his face as he looked down at the table.

"_Who_ are you and _what_ are you doing here?" bluntly asked Isaac.

Upon hearing this question, the man looked up at them, revealing his Darcsen features before stating "Name Iohan Comescu, Lieutenant of the _Waffen SS_. And I hear you've got some pests that need killing."

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**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH! The shit is about to hit the fan soon. I'm getting so excited for the Ardennes supply battle. I'm literally hopping with anticipation. Thankfully summer is here. At least now I'll be able to post my chapters more often. Just to let you know.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	66. The New Assignment

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

"What are you doing here Comescu?" questioned Isaac, not at all pleased to see Iohan in the same room as him. The soldiers of the Black Knights and those of the _SS_ weren't always on the beat of terms due to their differing styles on how to fight a war. The _SS_ were more brutal, sadistic, and merciless in how they carried out their assignments. This made them feared by many and downright hated by many more. On the other hand, the Black Knights carried out their operations with careful planning, little collateral damage, and more which made their style the direct opposite of the_ SS's_ version of war. This has been the source of the tensions between the two military wings of the Nazi Reich. And Iohan Comescu, the first ever Darcsen to be a part of the _Waffen SS_, was no exception to that despite his heritage.

The Black Knights had a reputation of recruiting those who normally would not have a place in Germania besides being at the bottom of the food chain. The Black Knights had foreigners, Darcsens, and those recruited from the colonial units in Africa and in the German East Indies. This was the first ethnically diverse group in the Reich's history and was barely even approved of when Byzantium hesitantly agreed to let Lelouch continue his recruitment process, despite the fact that it went against everything the Nazi Empire stood for. And when it came down to the _SS_, and their admittance of Comescu into their ranks, the leaders of the Black Knights were disgusted by the fact that a Darcsen would join the very organization that keeps them all in the concentration camps. And for all the intelligence of Lightning and Isaac had combined, they still couldn't think of a reason why High Command sent one of the _SS's_ most feared lapdogs to their base.

Comescu simply gave them a twisted smile and replied back with "Just the usual. I'm here to clean up where the military mucks up. A company of Gallian Regulars escaped your little ambush at the town. They have enough firepower with them to cause significant damage. As usual, they call in the Headhunters to solve the problem."

The Headhunters was the unit of _SS_ troops lead personally by Iohan. They specialized in tracking down resistance cells and wiping them out. They would also be used to locate high value targets such as dissent leaders or other such targets. They were known to never bring back their targets alive and for having slaughtered everyone who would fight to defend their targets. And with the remnants of the Gassenarl's task force wandering the Ardennes, High Command wants Comescu and his men to wipe them out before they damaged things ever further. And Iohan was looking forward to the challenge of fighting well trained soldiers instead of the rag tag bands of rebels and dissidents that he normally has to deal with. It should prove to be quite fun for the young Lieutenant.

"These aren't a bunch of thugs with guns Comescu. These are actual soldiers. They are well trained, armed to the teeth, and quite frankly they've got nothing left to lose," corrected Isaac. She saw the reality in the situation. Iohan on the other hand, simply saw it as a challenge and also target practice for his sniper skills. No sense of reality with him at all.

But Iohan simply brushed off her concern, claiming "You honestly don't know much about me do you? I don't easily give up, and my men are some of the best in the _Waffen SS_. There is no challenge to great for us, and there is nothing that can stop me."

"Except for a Militia Lieutenant and his ragtag band you mean?" brought up Lightning. Word managed to spread throughout the _Wehrmacht_ that Iohan and his soldiers were bested by a Militia squad during their failed mission to capture Princess Lucina, the last remaining member of the Archanean Royal Family and the leader of the Archanean Liberation Front. It was a humiliation for Iohan and he didn't like it that people kept bringing it up. He hadn't come this far and built up the reputation he had just to have this...this _incident_ ruin everything.

To show how sure he was of himself, he looked over to Lighting and got in her face. With a smirk on his face, he said to her "You have no idea the things that I'm capable of. You may be a Knight, but that doesn't make you great. You may get the fancy titles, position of power in the Prince's employ, and all that shit. But one word from me, and the _SS_ will drag you out and hang you from the highest point we can find. So watch your tongue girl."

Lightning said nothing. She simply stood here ground and not showed a hint of fear to Iohan. Isaac, was a little scared by this. His anger at Iohan for threatening his girl was quickly replaced by his fear that Lightning was going to kill him. Doing so would anger the SS and bring down a whole lot of trouble on their heads as well as their Lord, Prince Lelouch. And that was something that nobody in the Black Knights wanted at the moment. But just like that, the smirking Iohan simply marched out of the building, taking with him his two soldiers that were guarding the entrance outside.

From there, He stepped on board the back on the truck filled with his _SS_ troops, with a convoy of these troop filled trucks directly behind them. Though the _SS_ was known for fighting in all black uniforms, this was only during certain conditions such as in urban warfare which they excelled in. Like the _Wehrmacht_, they would wear camouflaged clothing to help them blend in certain combat conditions such as snow, forests, or a desert. For this particular mission, Iohan had his troops don on tunics and pants with forest camouflage. To help distinguish themselves from the other _Wehrmacht_ troops in the Ardennes, the _SS_ troops had black cuffs and collars that had the double lightning bolt of the _Waffen SS_ pinned to them. They also had their helmets painted black with that same emblem painted on it's side with the symbol placed upon a white shield painted on the helmet as well. This alone would help the SS identify their members among those of the rest of the German troops that would rendezvous with them and join the fight to eliminate these Gallian stragglers. And as the trucks started their engines and rolled out of the compound, Iohan smiled as soon he would be back into the thick of the action once more.

* * *

_Squad 7 Barracks of Fort Amaranthine_

_Ten Minutes Later_

"Jack...had a fiancee? Are we even talking about the same person here?" blurted out a bewildered Faldio. After Welkin and the others returned from having rescued Jack from his impending execution, they gathered the rest of the Squad (minus Jack), along with Faldio to discuss what had happened. Even though they had explained in detail what had happened when and after they arrived, the thing that most people seemed to be interested in is that Jack was once engaged to be married to a beautiful girl belonging to one of Great Britain's most noble families. It just seemed out of character with the Yankee that they knew. It just seemed odd that he could have once been engaged, let alone him not telling this to Welkin, Faldio, or Juno who had known him the longest out of all the people in the room.

"Yeah. Came as a shock to us too," confirmed Alicia.

"But I don't get it. Why did Jack not tell us about it?" inquired Juno.

"Well from what we can tell, whatever happened to them didn't really end well. Jack didn't even want to talk to her," explained Rosie.

"Even so, I just wish he told us. Would have been nice to know he didn't have anymore secrets from us," grumbled Faldio. He was still quite annoyed and angry at Jack for keeping his close childhood friendship with a prominent Nazi Prince a secret. Now with this revelation, he was curious as to what other secrets that Jack was keeping from them. It was a valid suspicion considering all that had happened in the past few days. After all, Princess Lucina did punch him back at Mullow from what he heard. If she was that angry at him then he must have done something big to piss her off like that. That just only added more fuel to the fire that was Faldio's suspicions on Jack and whatever secrets he has hidden away.

"I'm more surprised that he managed to land with a girl like her. I mean, did you look at her? How did he even get such a hot girl like her? _I_ can't even get one!" cried out Hermes, surprised how Jack could have managed to get the kind of woman that would usually turn Hermes down immediately. It just stunned him how Jack could have succeeded where he had failed.

"You saw her? What does she look like?" asked Dallas, curious to know what this supposedly gorgeous girl looked like as if she could have come from one of her fantasies.

Hermes wasted no time in explaining the details, saying "She's five foot-six, has brown hair and eyes, wears this little Jade pendent around her neck, this great rack and-"

He didn't even get to finish his statement when he was smacked hard on the back of his head, causing him to instantly shut up. Rubbing the back of his head, he turned around to see the person who smacked him was Jack, having managed to walk inside the barracks without anyone noticing him. He was still wearing the dress uniform from the trial and hadn't taken any of his medals off. He had his arms crossed and was giving an angry stare at Hermes. Apparently he didn't like the fact that everyone was talking about him and his ex-fiance behind his back. And from the look on his face, he was definitely...very...upset. Seeing the sight of an angry Jack made Hermes cower and gulp, scared to think about what Jack would say...or do to him.

Jack, breaking the silence, spoke sternly to everyone in the room "Okay look. Yes, I had a fiance. Yes, we broke up. But that is it. I'm not telling you anymore than that. Not one little bit of info. You got that? I've had a rough couple of days and was almost sent to a firing squad so I would like to just forget this all and get some rest before we end getting sent all the way back to the front lines."

Just as Jack was finished, a Gallian Militia soldier entered the room, looked to Welkin, Faldio, and Alicia, saluted, and then reported "Sirs, Ma'am, Captain Varrot wishes to see you in her office right away. It's important."

Welkin nodded in acknowledgement before looking over to Jack and saying "Looks like your reprieve just ended Jack. Get back into your uniform and lie down for a bit. We'll tell you guys what mission we got when we get back."

And with that line, Welkin, Alicia, and Faldio followed the soldier out of the barracks. Jack, not wanting to continue this conversation any further, simply had to abide by their words and went to his bunk for some sleep. No doubt when he would wake up the squad would just pester him some more with questions about Lara. But he had another appointment to make before he would turn in for a few hours of sleep. And he intended to keep that appointment. But before that, he wanted to put his other uniform back on.

* * *

_Captain Varrot's Office_

_Few Minutes Later_

The three neared the office and when they looked at the door, they were surprised to see Randgriz Royal Guards guarding the entrance. It was rare for them to be seen outside of the Castle grounds which were under their jurisdiction to protect. The only time you would ever see them is when they were guarding a Gallian dignitary overseas or a member of the Randgriz Royal Family. If they were here, then this mission must come from the highest echelons of Gallian High Command, making it an important mission indeed. They entered the room to see Varrot sitting at her desk with another man in a military uniform standing behind her, his back turned to them as he stared out the window. Varrot wasted no time in getting to business by addressing the three "Thank you for coming Lieutenants, Sergeant. I called you here because a situation has developed and it requires your assistance."

"Just what kind of mission is this Captain?" inquired Faldio, curious as to what this was all about.

"I'm afraid that I don't have the clearance to give you the details. But this mostly involves Lieutenant Gunther," answered Varrot.

Welkin, a bit surprised by this. Wondering as to how _he_ was relevant to all of this, he asked "No disrespect Captain, but what does this have to do to me?"

"I believe I can explain that Lieutenant,"explained the man at the window.

He turned to face the trio and Welkin was surprised when he recognized the man. This was the old man he had met the other day at the graveyard when he went to plant flowers at his father's grave. He remembered seeing him in that white suit and panama hat, but the man before him seemed completely different from the one that he had met. He was dressed in a field grey uniform for a General in the German Army, but the design seemed older than the one currently in use by the _Wehrmacht_. Judging from how it looked, Welkin figured that it must have been in use during the Great War almost twenty years ago. From the epaulets and the several medals and citations evident on said uniform, he must have been a man of a high rank once, perhaps a General. And now here he is, standing in the same room as Welkin was, and with no doubt had an explanation as to who he was.

"I thank you all in here at short notice. But the circumstances surrounding the situation demanded immediate action. And there was little time to look at other options," explained Wilhelm, apologizing for the sudden notice to bring them all here.

Welkin, deciding to say something about the situation, spoke up and said "When you said you were in the Great War, I didn't know you were still in the service."

"Ah yes that. I'm sorry I didn't mention that Mr. Gunther back at the cemetery. I suppose that now I should clarify some things. First, allow me to introduce myself: My name is Wilhelm zi Britannia II. Once I was the Kaiser of Germania during the Great War, now I'm the Regent to my niece Cordelia," answered Wilhelm honestly.

Welkin, along with Alicia and Faldio gasped in surprise. They had all heard of Kaiser Wilhelm zi Britannia. He came to power as the ruler of the Nazi Reich on June 15, 1889 and reigned as the absolute ruler of the nation until he was forced to abdicate his position near the end of the Great War just days before the armistice in favor of his younger brother, Charles, succeeding him as Kaiser. After that, he was exiled and wound up in Gallia where he found himself sanction thanks to the Royal Family. And when they died, they named Wilhelm as Cordelia's Regent, a position he has carried out exceptionally well throughout the ten years of his regency. They heard of him in the papers of what he did such as attending public events, national holidays, and more though they never really had a picture of him in the papers. It of course puzzled them since such a public figure would have landed in the papers at least once throughout the past ten years. But even so, when he wasn't the public face of Gallia, he served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Gallain Armed Forces. This gave him a high clearance rate and gave him the right to oversee any military operation as he saw fit. And apparently, this particular mission that he was about to give them must have been pretty important is he came here to deliver it personally.

"Wait, Welkin. You've met him before?" asked Alicia, regaining her composure and realizing something from earlier in the conversation.

"We met at the cemetery when I went to visit my father's grave. We had a little talk. Though he neglected to tell me who he was at the time," answered Welkin honestly. And it was the truth in a sense. When he talked to Wilhelm, he had no idea he was talking to the former Kaiser of Imperial Germanian Reich and now Regent. I mean, it wasn't exactly something that happened to people on a regular basis. So to Alicia, this explained why Welkin didn't tell her about this meeting: it was because Welkin was clueless to who he was really speaking with.

"Typical Welkin Gunther. Never really had a talent for reading people because you could never see the obvious. That was always my job," joked Faldio, not being able to prevent commenting on his friends situation which reminded him of their days back at the University.

"If you two are done reminiscing, the Regent would like to explain to you the mission," interrupted Varrot, wanting to get back to the discussion at hand. The three quickly stopped talking and stood back at attention in order to listen.

Wilhelm wasted no time getting down to business "As you no doubt know, the Gassenarl's took a task force into the Ardennes to try and take out the German supply bases. As of several hours ago, that task force was utterly destroyed. The survivors arrived back across our lines and there were few of them."

"Was it the Black Prince sir? Did he do this?" questioned Faldio, quickly guessing who was responsible for this.

"We believe so," answered Wilhelm before continuing with "But recently we received a distress signal via Morse Code by a company of troops in their task force that managed to avoid the onslaught. They're under the command of a Lieutenant Mary Read. She reported that she and her men trapped in the Ardennes Forest and are being chased by _Wehrmacht_ troops. They've asked for our assistance. And I want the Militia's Squad 7 to handle this."

Welkin was actually taken aback by this. The Regent was asking personally for his platoon to head into the Ardennes and rescue Mary...again. He could understand it if this came from Varrot, but it was another thing with this mission coming from the Regent himself. There must have been a reason why he was doing so. But before he could even ask, Alicia spoke first asking "Um, no offense sir, but what does this have to do with Lieutenant Landzaat?"

"Lieutenant Landzaat and his men will be providing support for this mission. I imagine they'll perform their duties accordingly?" explained Wilhelm, directing his last comment to Faldio who answered with a resounding 'Yes Sir!'.

"I thought so. Captain, you may finish this up," said Wilhelm, turning the briefing over to Varrot.

Varrot adjusted her glasses and explained further "Tomorrow at 0900 hours, your platoons will board a train and head straight to the Ardennes Front. There you'll arrive at Fort Drakon, one of the few forts still in our hands, and coordinate your efforts with the forces stationed there. With Read's forces being chased we'll have to pinpoint her location before you can proceed any further. But once we have her location, you'll advance with haste to link up with her forces. And when you find her, get back to our lines ASAP. No sense staying put in enemy territory."

"Understood Captain," responded Welkin.

"Good then. Captain, may you leave the room for a moment? I'd like to have a word with these three," asked Wilhelm sincerely. Varrot nodded her head in agreement before giving a slight bow and exiting the room, making sure to close the door on her way out. Now it was simply Wilhelm in the room with the three young Militia volunteers standing before him.

And Wilhelm wasted no time getting to business "I also have another task for you while you're in the Ardennes. This mission is considered to be highly dangerous. However, this mission is optional. I'm not ordering you to undertake it, but merely bring it under suggestion. I have no intention of wasting your lives for nothing. Do you three understand that?"

All three nodded their heads. They knew that just by going this deep into enemy territory would be dangerous enough as it is. The last thing they needed was to risk their lives and those of their soldiers in a suicide mission in the process. It was assuring to know that the Regent was going to force this mission on them. He would simply offer it to them as an option to them. If they completed this mission and decided to continue on and complete the optional mission, it was their choice and their choice alone. No one was going to force them to do so. All they needed to know was what exactly this optional mission was. And Welkin had a pretty good idea as to what it was: the German supply bases under Prince Lelouch vi Britannia's protection.

Those bases would prove to be a hindrance to the Gallian war effort and a boost to the German's as long as they stood up and running. And after all, the Prince was looking for a fight against Welkin's unit after they surprised the Nazis with their stunning victory at Vasel. And Gallian High Command was sure that he was there at the bases overseeing it's security personally. Taking out both those bases and if possible, capturing the Prince, will be a major victory for the Gallians. It would also be a major political victory as it would show that Gallia is not the easy target that the Nazis thought they were.

However, this mission would also be a dangerous one. If the Gassenarls siblings and their highly trained task force couldn't defeat Lelouch, it was unlikely that two Militia squads and a company of Regulars could do any better. It would probably be best if they simply stuck to their primary mission and avoid taking the fight to the Prince's front door if they wanted to live.

"What kind of enemy forces should we expect to encounter in the Ardennes sir?" asked a curious Alicia.

Wilhelm quickly summed up "From what we can tell, the German Army has elements of several infantry divisions as well as elements of a Panzer division as well. They're scattered throughout the Ardennes, having taken over the forts, towns, and other areas, turning the woods into a fortress. You'll have to move through the narrow roads to stay off the German's radar."

"Understood sir," replied Alicia, satisfied with her answer.

With that, Wilhelm finished this meeting by announcing "Very well. You're all dismissed. I'll see you all at the station then."

Welkin, Alicia, and Faldio gave the Regent a salute before turning on their heels and walking out the door. When Faldio and Alicia walked out, Welkin stayed in the room and closed the door behind them. He still had a few questions that he wanted to ask the Regent. Personal questions. And he wanted to ask them without either Alicia or Faldio in the room, but preferably both of them. His action didn't go unnoticed by Wilhelm. He soon took a seat and prepared to talk to Welkin about whatever it was he wanted to talk about. He waited for Welkin to begin talking but nothing seemed to come out of the young Lieutenant's mouth. It was as if he was simply trying to find the courage to actually speak up and say what it was that was on his mind. Maybe it was the fact that he was talking to the former Kaiser of Germania and now Regent about this that was making him quite nervous. More than he usually was.

"Are you going to say something son or are you just going to keep standing there?" asked Wilhelm, wondering if this conversation was going to get started or not.

Welkin managed to overcome his silence and just straight out asked him "I'm a little confused here. When we met at the cemetery you said that you knew my father. But what I'm trying to figure out is how? How did my father actually know the Kaiser of Imperial Germanian Reich?"

"Former Kaiser," corrected Wilhelm, "It's just Regent now."

"That doesn't exactly answer my question sir," reminded Welkin.

Wilhelm gave out a deep sigh before explaining fully "When I was forced to abandon the throne, I was expelled by the Royal Family..._my_ own family. I had nothing but a suitcase, some clothes, and a few thousand in currency. I struggled for the first few months to try and figure out what to do with my life. And no one would help me in that. No one wanted to help the German ruler who plunged all of Europe into a war that caused millions upon millions of good people to die. No one was going to take any pity on me now. And I deserved their scorn. Nothing I ever did in my life ever benefited anyone outside of my empire as far as I know. Then I came to Gallia and made my way to Randgriz. I was spotted by the Randgriz Royal Guard just outside the palace. Two of them grabbed me and pulled me inside on orders of Cordelia's parents. There I met them for the first time."

"You never met them before then? Why?" asked Welkin, curious as to how that was possible.

"If you remember correctly from your history classes, Gallia and Germania haven't exactly been on the best of terms for the past hundred years," reminded Wilhelm, citing Germania's hatred for Gallia and the countries 'Blood Traitors' which has caused the major rift between the two nations.

"Okay you have a point there," admitted Welkin.

Wilhelm continued with "When I came to the palace and met her parents, we ended up talking. And at the end of the conversation they offered me to stay in Gallia. Truthfully, I was shocked. It was the first act of kindness someone had shown me since my abdication. I accepted it without much thought. After a few weeks, I met your father. He surprised me even more by befriending me. He knew who I once was, what I had done during my rule, but he didn't care. He accepted me as an equal, regardless of who I was and my past affiliations. Much like you do with your men, Lieutenant. That is a fine trait as a commander."

Welkin smiled a bit at the compliment that Wilhelm had given him. Welkin had pretty much inherited most of his beliefs from his father. So much so that some people back in Bruhl commented that Welkin was 'like his father in more ways than one'. It was something that Welkin had noted about himself ever since he was young and he always took that as a compliment when someone said it to him. Normally one would hate the idea of being compared to their parents, with always being in their shadow. But that never happened when it came to Welkin. He always saw his father as simply that, a father. And no matter how much people compared the two of them, Welkin simply paid no heed to it. And hearing the Regent talk about how both he and his father were both accepting of people, no matter of their origins, class or such brought a small smile to the young man's face.

"After that, your father and I became good friends. He helped me see how much pain and suffering my rule had brought upon Europa. And when he died, I went to Bruhl to pay my respects to the only real friend I had ever truly had. And when Cordelia's parents died, I was shocked that they had named me her Regent. According to the man who wrote up the document, he said that I was the only one that they trusted for this position. I mean they trusted_ me_, the man who plunged Europa into four years of war. Though most of the nobility and the government objected to it, I took the seat willingly," further explained Wilhelm.

"Why? I mean, from what you said, it sounded like you never wanted to be a ruler again? Why the sudden change of heart?" inquired Welkin, curious as to his motives.

Calmly, Wilhelm stated "Because I saw an opportunity to correct at least some of my mistakes. A chance for some bit of redemption, believe it or not. I strove to make amends to the mistakes I made in my past. I plan to make my niece Cordelia a good ruler, or at least one that is much better than I ever was. That's all I can do now these days. Heh. You must think it sounds pathetic don't you? An old man like me working for forgiveness."

Welkin surprised him when he answered truthfully "Actually. I think it's quite noble."

Wilhelm smiled at Welkin's generosity. He truly was Belgen's son. At least he would be at ease knowing that one man in the world who thought of his path to redemption as honorable in a certain way. With that in mind, all he could do now was to keep what he was doing and fulfill what he set out to do. Then, and only then, could he die in peace. Only then, can all of his mistakes finally be rectified. But now was not the time for such talk. If there was to be another discussion between the two, it would have to be after Welkin returned from the Ardennes, and hopefully with Lieutenant Read and what was left of her command. With that in mind, he stood back up and suggested to Welkin "Not that I don't enjoy this little talk. But you have work to do as do I. We'll continue on a latter date."

"On it," said Welkin. And with that, he went to the door to brief his Squad and prepare them for the mission. As he left, Wilhelm thought in his mind _"That kid's going to go far. Just wait and see."_

* * *

_Airport near Randgriz_

_2118 hours (9:18 pm)_

At this small airport, converted to military use when the war began, there was only one civilian aircraft parked there and currently being readied to take off any minute now. The civilian plane in General was a Douglas DC-3 airliner. It's the civilian model of the U.S. military's C-47 transport plane. Both models of this widely known, twin engine plane were in widespread use to transport a wide variety of people, items, and more. This one in particular was in service to the U.S. government as a means to ferry their diplomats such as their Secretary of State off on missions of diplomacy like the meetings in England...well, before they had to go on an unexpected mission to Gallia in order to bail his son out of certain death. And now that it was done, they had to return back to England to resume the conferences there. They had already been delayed enough as it is. Right now, the crew was loading the last of the Secretary and his staff's items on board the ship. As the Secretary was being briefed on his schedule for tomorrow, the co-pilot for the plane walked up and informed him "Fifteen minutes till we have to leave. I'm not staying in Gallia any longer. I'd rather not get shot up by the _Luftwaffe_."

"Understood. We'll leave as soon as we're ready," replied Arron. The pilot nodded in acknowledgement before heading back to the plane to ready it for takeoff. After a few more last minute pointers, Arron's staff member headed to the plane, but not before pointing out someone coming from behind him. Arron turned to see Jack in his Militia uniform walking towards him. Looks like Jack wanted one last talk with him before he flew out of Gallia. This should prove interesting.

"Didn't think you were going to leave without saying goodbye did you?" commented Jack.

Arron waited a few moments before saying to his son "I didn't think you wanted to talk. Our last talk wasn't exactly one we left on good terms."

_" My father was of course referring to our little talk...well actually more of a shouting match really that he and I had before I went off to Alaska. You see, my father wasn't exactly thrilled that I had lied my way into the Army by forging papers to say I was eighteen when I was in reality fifteen. And add to the fact that I lied to him about it made him quite angry. The day before I shipped out, he and I argued...and I said a few words that I ended up regretting. After that day, my father and I never spoke to each other. Hell, we never even sent letters to each other when I was on the front. Though I have no doubt he heard of his son, the 'Hero of Anchorage' from time to time on the propaganda reels. The only time I had ever heard of him was when he sent me a letter after the war saying that he had enrolled me At Randgriz University, which sums up how I ended up in Gallia. When he showed up at my trial...it was the first time we had actually seen each other in over two years. But even so, he saved my life. I figured at that now it was time to try and patch things up I guess." - Jack Lawrence_

"Yeah...about that...look dad, I'm sorry. I get that it's a few years late but...what you said back then was true. What I did was reckless, impulsive...and I did it regardless of thinking of the consequences. I realize that now as I did then," admitted Jack, repeating everything that he father said when he ridiculed his choice.

"If you knew that two years ago, then why did you go ahead and do it," inquired Arron, as he tried to keep the talk going for he too, was hoping that they would be able to fix things.

Jack took a deep sigh, and collected his thoughts before explaining "Because this was what I wanted to do ever since I was a kid. I always wanted to be a soldier. And you know, ever since I did, I made a difference. I saved people's lives. And I'm good at it. It's just something I feel that I can do."

Jack meant every word that he said. Ever since he was just five years old, it was his dream to be a soldier. And the war with the Soviet Union gave him that chance. And he wasn't going to let something like his age stop him from achieving it. When he served in those two years, he truly felt that he made a difference, and his actions proved it. He won more medals than any soldier in American history, saved thousands of civilians on both sides, and more. And when Jack's service ended, it really hurt him a bit because he wanted to stay and continue doing more of the good that he had done. But the army still thought he had served enough time and that he should go on to lead a normal civilian life. The kind of life that his father wanted for him.

"Is that why you're in the Militia now?" asked Arron.

"I did it because these people need help dad. I was there when the Nazis invaded. They just plowed through the country leaving nothing but a trail of smoldering wreckage and dead bodies. I couldn't just ignore what happened. I joined the Militia because this is the one way I can help. Dad...being a soldier is...is everything to me," said Jack, pleading with his father to see his reasoning. And strange as it is, he did. Now it was clear to Arron...all of it. Being a soldier was the one thing that made his son's life whole. It was the thing he was born to do. Aron just failed to see it as he was more worried about Jack's safety. Though his other two sons and eldest daughter were in the Military and his daughter worked in the OSS, they were well aware of the consequences before them and they knew full well the risks involved. Jack didn't, at least, Arron thought he didn't. But now he can see that he was wrong. His son was no longer the teenage boy chasing skirts that he remembered. Now, he's all grown up, and become a fine man. And with a smile on his face, he embraced Jack in a hug that utterly surprised him but in the end he returned the hug.

As the two separated, Arron looked at Jack and commented "You really are a good soldier. When I heard you name in the news reels back home it confirmed it. I was always proud of your accomplishments Jack. But not as proud as the fact that I am honored that you're my son."

Now it was Jack's turn to smile. This was the first compliment his father had given him since the day he joined the military. Hearing this approval from him...it just assured Jack that he did make the right choices. And now he had the chance to truly make his father proud. And he had a whole war to do it. However, just as the two were making amends, they heard a shout from the plane that they had to move. Apparently the pilot had moved up the timetable on their departure. He didn't want to take any risks on being spotted by German fighters. If they were going to leave, then they had to leave in the next few minutes. However, Arron had one last thing he wanted to give Jack before they left.

"Listen Jack, I left a trunk full of some things in your room. I think you'll find them quite helpful in the future. I also made a few calls to a few people back in America and called in a few favors. I managed to get something else for you," notified Arron.

"And what exactly is it?" asked Jack, wondering where this was going.

"Oh you'll see. I had someone from the embassy here send it. Trust me, you're going to like it," explained his father, not really explaining much in his answer "But now I really need to get going. See you soon."

"Okay but can you do me one thing when you get back home? Try to convince the U.S. to try and send more support here? These guys need all the help they can get," suggested Jack. He figured that since his relationship was his father was all patched up...more or less...that he could try and ask him for some more support from America. What he said was true: if Gallia was going to win this war, then they were going to need _a lot_ of help. More than what the US was currently giving them. And with the influence of his family and his father's position in the government that additional support might become possible.

"I'll try to. You have my word. Good luck Jack. And come home safe. Your mother will never let me hear the end of it if you didn't," said Arron as he waved his son goodbye before heading off to board the plane. But even as he walked towards the plane, over the sound of the engines he could still hear his son have the last say.

**"AND NEXT TIME: GIVE ME A LITTLE BIT OF A WARNING WHEN YOU BRING MY EX-FIANCEE OVER!"**

* * *

**Well this was nice. Not like my usual chapters but still nice. Up next will be Squad 7 heading to the Ardennes. Hopefully things get more interesting on the way there...and I have a pretty good idea as to how.**

**P.S. For some reason, I keep imaging that Jack's father looks a lot like Russell Crowe. Kind of interesting.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	67. To the Ardennes we go!

**Just a quick note before you read, a couple new characters appear in this story and I changed a few small details from past chapters. Other than that, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_April 21, 1935_

_Randgriz Train Station_

_0930 hours (9:30 am)_

The Randgriz train station, once a bustling transport hub placed right next to the city walls. It used to send trains throughout the country, it was now a mere shadow of it's former glory. When the war began, the Gallian military quickly seized control of many major means of transportation so they could be used to transport their troops, vehicles, and supplies over to the front as quickly as possible. They were also converted to serve as mobile command posts, as well as mobile hospitals, transporting wounded from the front to well behind their lines to the medical facilities. It was one of the ways where the Gallians could convert their nation to a total war phase in the event of a massive enemy invasion like they were facing now. As the invasion progressed and the Gallians were pushed further and further inland, this train station became the main transit hub for the whole Gallian Army.

Even now, the station was flooded with Gallian Regulars and Militiamen both going to the front and the wounded coming back from it. These ones from today came from the port city of Anthold, the victims of a German shelling from their coastal blockade. It must have done heavy damage because there was a large flood of wounded coming in from that city, almost several hundred so far, was most likely the exact number of wounded being brought over. Nurses and doctors in their blood stained clothing kept checking on their patients as corpsmen and other soldiers helped carry them off the trains and onto the trucks so they could be taken to the hospital. And on the train directly next to theirs war one heading _towards_ the front, more specifically the Northern Front, where some of the heaviest fighting of the war was being waged.

Squad 7 had been assembled near the train where they would board to the Ardennes and were waiting for Squad 1 to arrive. From their spot they could see that was happening with the wounded being unloaded and the Gallian Regulars boarding for the front. Those troops stood out as their uniforms were all new and clean, for these were new recruits that had been 'recruited' for the war effort. And from the looks of these recruits, it seems that the Regulars were getting less picky with their new troops and were conscripting them just to keep their numbers up. And it seemed that they had lowered their standards somewhat as well for admission into the Regulars. Because this batch of conscripts ranged from the sixteen year old high school kids to the forty year old veterans from the Great War. Now the Regulars looked just like the Militia, with the only difference is that one's uniform looks better than the other.

Rosie looked at this and commented "Huh, fresh grunts heading to the front, and guys full of holes coming back. Nothing new here."

Largo, taking a huff from his cigarette further added "Yeah, I know. No matter how old you get, or how many wars you fight, this is something you never get used to. The ones you see leaving are gonna be the ones they're bringing back in either a stretcher or a body bag."

"Who cares? We're all gonna end up in one eventually," mumbled Herbert, being cynical and lazy as always, leaning up against a crate, not even caring about their situation. Everyone seemed to take offense to that as they all glared at him with an irritated look upon _all_ their faces. He seemed completely confused as to why they were looking at him like that even though the answer was completely obvious to even the most simple of morons...of which Herbert was not. He was so dumbfounded, he eventually uttered the most ridiculous question that one in this situation could ask. He asked them curiously "What?"

In response to that, Rosina, who was sitting right next to him, simply thought up a quick way to teach him a lesson about manners, which he clearly lacked. She grabbed an empty metal bucket sitting right next to her, positioned it to come down on Herbert's head, and pushed down...hard. Now Herbert's whole head was stuck inside of a metal bucket. He grabbed it and tried to get it off but no matter what he tried, he just couldn't get it off. And now he was simply rolling around the ground like a complete fool with the whole Squad laughing at him. Welkin, who was with Alicia in another room checking over some things before their departure came over and looked over this sight just as Herbert managed to get the bucket off his head. Once he and the rest of Squad 7 noticed Welkin and Alicia arriving they immediately stopped talking.

"Um, do we even want to know what just happened?" asked Alicia with a puzzled look on her face as she tried to make sense over what had just happened. The Squad's silence pretty much answered her question by itself.

"You know Herbert? I think you looked better with the bucket on your head," joked Welkin, even cracking a smile in the process. That joke got a small chuckle out of the Squad. For Welkin, comedy was never his strong suit. He was never quite that funny, for that was always Jack's specialty. But ever since Welkin met him it seems that his talent sort of just rubbed off on him. And evident by what just happened here, it wasn't much but there was still some success for Welkin.

"Ha! Nice one boss. I didn't peg you for the joker type," commented Ted, actually impressed by the joke.

Welkin admitted "I'm not. Jack was always better at that than I ever was. But I learned a thing or too from him."

"Speaking of Jack, where is he?" asked Fina, noticing that their Quartermaster was no one to be found. The whole squad had pretty much noticed his absence. He was never this late before. Usually he was with the rest of the Squad wherever they went to. But yet here he was, nowhere to be seen in the massive crowd of Bluecoats that crowded the station. The Squad had almost not noticed he was nowhere to be seen. Fina was one of the few who managed to find it out. She just didn't say anything because she didn't know if everyone knew about this and by bringing it up, she would just be saying old news. But old news or not, it was still a good question: Where the hell was the Squad's resident Yankee?

"Why don't you look over here?" called out Jack's voice from a distance. The whole Squad turned to that direction and were quite surprised to see Jack in a different uniform than the one he had worn in any of their previous battles. Jack had forgone his blue Gallian Militia uniform and replaced it with his old olive-green U.S. uniform he had worn during the Soviet-American War. He still had the M1 helmet but had repainted it green, along with repainting the Spade on both sides of the helmet. He also put a net cover of the helmet as per usual of U.S. Airborne forces. The main part of his uniform was his M43 field jacket that showed a Sergeant's stripes on his sleeves and the eagle patch of the 101st as well, and a pair of M43 trousers, the latter kept in place by a belt. His brown leather boots were scuffed, indicating that they were used continually. He also wore a pair of M38 Canvas leggings strapped over the top of his boots and the bottom of his trousers. Around his waist he wore an ammo belt with pouches containing rifle ammunition along with a bandoleer with even more ammo pouches, this time for shotgun shells, strapped diagonally across his chest. He wore a pair of suspenders which helped to carry the M1928 haversack, a kind of backpack, with some of his other gear inside of it such as his field bag, rolled up poncho, and a spade for digging trenches or foxholes.

The last bits of his gear were the weapons he carried with him. Aside from his signature twin Colt 1911's he kept in a pair of holsters, one such weapon that stood out was the one he held in his hands: an American M1 Garand. The weapon is a semi-auto rifle carrying eight .30-06 rounds, and is the standard issue weapon in all branches of the U.S. Armed forces. This gives the U.S. an advantage over the Germans who's standard issue rifle is a bolt-action rifle, lessening their firepower a bit against their American counterparts. The other weapon he had with him was the M1897 Trench Gun that was strapped to the right side of his haversack. It was essentially a 12-gauge shotgun with a magazine of five shells. It's a weapon that the American used with great efficiently in the Soviet trenches of the Alaskan Front. Jack was more familiar in using these weapons than any of the other members of Squad 7 and he was looking forward to using them again, this time against the Nazis instead of the Soviets. The one new item that he had was this a cutlass sheathed in it's scabbard which he kept strapped to his belt. The handle, pommel, and guard seemed to be well made, almost as good as a ceremonial sword or one owned by a noble. It just seemed to contrast completely with his uniform entirely.

Seeing the sight of Jack in his new gear surprised the Squad and even impress a few of them in the process. One was Jane who commented "Damn Yankee, you look like you can take on the whole Nazi Army!"

"More like a platoon of them. And besides, I look better in this than in your uniforms any day," corrected Jack, finally joining the group.

"Why are you wearing that? Heck, _where_ did you get that?" inquired a curious Isara. She had never seen those items with Jack before, besides old photos he showed her from the war.

"My dad left me some things before he left. And you won't believe what else he did for me," explained Jack with a smile on his face.

Jack went on further to explain when he returned to the fort, he was greeted by Captain Varrot upon his arrival. Apparently the things that Jack's father left for him were inside of this large truck that he had sent to the base. It included the uniform, weapons, gear and other useful items. And apparently his father had helped pull some strings for something else: Jack was reinstated in the U.S. Armies 101st Airborne Division as a Sergeant, a rank higher than he originally had when he entered in 1932. Normally, such a thing would have meant that he would have to leave Gallia and return back to the States for his next assignment. However, his father had it tweaked a bit via a few friends in the Army who were Colonels and Generals now and all owed him a favor. Jack had become the official U.S. military liaison with the Gallian Milita and would continue to serve with Squad 7 for the remainder of the war. And after everything that happened to Jack, he was quite glad for the fact that he could do the job he loved and perhaps teach his squad mates a thing or two along the way.

"Ha, your dad sure has a way with people doesn't he?" joked Rosie, as she loaded a fresh magazine into her MP-18 sub-machine gun.

"You could say that. My dad always had a way of talking to people in order to get what he wants. And he's good at using words to get out of problems. That's what makes him a blasted good diplomat," agreed Jack.

"You mean like you?" asked Cezary.

Jack was quick to correct him by saying "No, no, no, no no. I'm good at talking my way _into_ problems. My dad is the one who always manages to talk me _out_ of problems. Totally different circumstances."

Edy chimed in next and asked him "So with your little promotion does that mean we have to call you 'sir' now?"

"That's up to Welkin. He's the Lieutenant, not me," informed Jack. Everyone looked to Welkin, waiting for him to give his answer as to this. Despite Welkin only being in command for a only a week, the members of Squad 7 had come to respect his opinion. This alone showed how far Squad 7 had come in that week under Welkin's command. Sure they were still a bit organized and divided but in the one week of the Squad's formation they have been in several battles, overcome immense odds, and emerged alive each time. One could say this would make someone overconfident, but for these men and women, as long as Welkin was leading them, there was no doubt in they would never succeed. And now they would follow him no matter what. And as of now, they wanted to know his opinion on Jack being a Sergeant.

And just like that, Welkin answered with a smile "Think you can take a look at our inventory when we get inside Sergeant, or are you not our Quartermaster anymore?"

Jack smiled back before responding "I can do that Lieutenant. I'm with you guys till the end. As both an American, and an ally."

The Squad cheered that declaration as Jack walked up to Welkin and saluted him, with Welkin responding back along with a hug. After all that has happened in the past few days, it was good for Welkin to have his friend back. Now that it was settled, Welkin decided that it was time for the Squad to board the train and wait for Faldio and his squad to arrive there. The train they were using to get to the Ardennes wasn't a new model. It was a general steam locomotive that was in service all across Europa. Next, there was about five passenger cars directly behind the locomotive. The first one would be where Faldio, Welkin, and the other main members of Squad 7 would be in. There they would discuss what the next stage of their plan would be once they got to their destination. The next four would be where Squad's 7 and 1 would be in, with the Sevens taking the first two cars, and Faldio's squad taking the last two.

Then behind it were two large flatbed cars where the _Edelweiss_ and a Gallian Light Tank were parked onto and strapped down. Their mission would cause them to likely encounter German Panzers, and they would need armor of their own in order to counter that. So it was obvious that Welkin would have brought along the _Edelweiss_. Heck, the tank had served the Squad well this far, and they've grown quite fond of it as Welkin and Isara have. Where Squad 7 went, the _Edelweiss_ will follow. As for the Gallian Light Tank situated on the car behind the _Edelweiss_. This was the tank that would be used to Faldio's platoon as additional armored support. While not as useful as taking on Panzers as the Edelweiss, but it would be useful as support for the Militia troops as an anti-infantry unit.

Finally, the last additions to this train were the measure taken to defend it in the case of an attack by land or air. The first was the addition of a Gallian Maxim machine gun placed directly above the conductors on the roof of the locomotive with a small semi circle of sandbags to protect the front and rear of the gun. Also, placed directly in front of the locomotive and to the rear were two smaller flatcars that had rows of sandbags on all four sides of the cart to protect the crew of the Oerlikon 20mm autocannon placed on each of the two cars. The gun was designed to be operated by at least three men with one firing the gun and the other two reloading it when it ran out of ammunition. The gun itself had a much faster rate of fire than the Bofors 40mm gun, but the range was smaller as a result. The planes would have to be much closer to the ground for the guns to be useful. But if the train came under an attack via ground forces, the 20mm shells from this gun would be enough to shred through infantry and light vehicles. The other defensive addition to the train cars where there were the order that several soldiers must ride on the roofs of each train car to provide additional security during travels. All of these would be used by Regulars as they protected Squad 7 on their journey to the Ardennes.

Those Regulars took their places on the guns and train cars at the same time that Squad 7 was boarding the train. Right when most of the Squad was on board, with only Welkin, Alicia, Isara, Jack, Largo, and Rosie, the group looked to see Faldio and his platoon of Militiamen arriving. One look at them and anyone can instantly spot the differences between Faldio's troops and those of Squad 7. Compared to Squad 7, perhaps the biggest collection of misfits in Gallia at the moment, Faldio's troops looked more like 'military like', meaning they actually looked like real soldiers instead of common Militia. His troops were moving in formation with him in the lead, weapons shouldered, and striding with confidence in their step. What's more was that each of them had Gallian _Stahlhelm's_ on their heads, painted blue with a white stripe and red outline. It was perplexing to wonder how a Militia platoon would have gotten their hands on enough helmets for them all since such items weren't normally given to the Militia.

Another strange thing about Faldio's troops is the age of them. Unlike most Militia squads whose ages ranged from the high school recruits to Great War veterans and even old men in rare instances, the age of Faldio's troops were consistent. Each of them appeared to be in their mid to late twenties, and not one seemed to be below that age range or above it. Add up everything together, and it looked like Faldio was leading a platoon of Regulars dressed as Militiamen instead of an actual Militia squad. The last strange thing about them was that all of his troops were non-Darcsens, with not a single one in their ranks. That was abnormal to say the least considering that Darcsens made up a good portion of the Gallian Militia, at least a third from the last count. Faldio and his soldiers continued to march up the platform to the group before coming to a halt right in front of them.

Jack, with his one liner at the ready, looked to Faldio and asked jokingly "What did you do Faldio, persuade some of the Regulars to defect to our side of the army?"

Faldio merely chuckled at the joke before answering "No. But that is a good idea. Though I doubt that Damon would like that coming from a Corporal."

"It's Sergeant now. Look at the stripes on my sleeve, I got promoted," corrected Jack, pointing out the obvious which Faldio didn't seem to notice.

"I saw. And I saw the uniform. I take it that something changed?" inquired Faldio.

"Yeah. And I'll explain it on the train," answered Welkin. Faldio nodded in acknowledgement before looking to his troops and gesturing for them to board which they did without uttering a single word. They took their places on the last two train cars and boarded much faster than Squad 7 did. With all of them getting on board in less than half the time.

_"I was slightly impressed by how disciplined and orderly that Faldio's troops seemed. The way they carried themselves...they made us look like complete morons and intimidated us in about three stinking minutes. First they intimidated us by how disciplined they were when they were marching, which our Squad was not at all. And now I had a feeling they would intimidate us even more when we're fighting. And trust me...that's a rarity in itself. The only thing in this war so far that's actually intimidated us so far is the Nazi army. And it's hard to see how much they intimidate us when you're dodging their bullets, shells, and tanks. I mean seriously...those fuckers are crazy. Very, very, veeeeery...crazy." - Jack Lawrence_

Suddenly, they all heard the sound of someone racing down the platform. All turned to see a Militia soldier, about sixteen years of age it seemed, running towards them as if his life depended on it. Something had gotten this kid running pretty fast. _'Maybe this is one of Faldio's guys. The one who arrives late to everything,'_ thought Jack, thinking up the most logical explanation. The young man continued to run up till when he reached Faldio and stopped, panting as he tried to catch his breath. It was there that the main members of Squad 7 could get a good look at the young man. The sixteen year old was Isara's height, dark-purple eyes, and had short black hair...or very dark green...it was hard to tell. The amount of armor he wore showed that he was a Shocktrooper, and he had with him a Mags-4 slung over his shoulder.

He quickly straightened himself, gave Faldio a salute, and sputtered out in between his deep breaths "Sergeant...Ramal Valt...reporting...for duty...Lieutenant."

"Ramal, calm down. You'll give yourself a heart attack," claimed Faldio, trying to have his subordinate relax for a minute.

"I know sir. I'm sorry I'm late. This won't happen again," assured Ramal, having finally caught his breath. He then looks to see Squad 7 simply standing there, waiting for an introduction.

Welkin started that conversation as he plainly asked Faldio "I take it then that he's your second-in-command?"

"Yes. I suppose introductions are in order. Welkin, this is Sergeant Ramal Valt. Ramal, this is Lieutenant Welkin Gunther. I told you about him. He and his squad are the reason that Vasel is still in Gallian hands." explained Faldio.

Welkin looks to Ramal and states "I think your Lieutenant is exaggerating a bit on that matter."

"Really, because that seemed pretty accurate in my opinion. Though he forgot the part where we sent an entire battalion of Germans into the river. That part was nice," pointed out Jack, displaying the exact opposite of Welkin's modesty.

Now it was time to introduce the others. Welkin quickly began by saying "My smartass friend there Ramal, is Jack Lawrence. He's our Quartermaster and our liaison with the American military here. Listen to him, and you just might learn a few things here. This isn't the first war he's fought. This is Alicia Melchiott, my Sergeant and my second-in-command. Next is Sergeant Largo Potter, our Great War veteran and head Lancer. Then we have Rosie, our head Shocktrooper and senior Corporal along with Isara, my little sister. They're my main officers. The rest of my squad has already boarded the train."

"Speaking of which, shouldn't we do so?" suggested Alicia.

"Oi there! Make sure you wait up for us though," shouted a female voice, coming from down the platform yet again. Once again they all looked down the platform to see two familiar faces heading towards them: Lucina and Lara. When Welkin returned from his meeting with Varrot and the Regent Wilhelm, Jack soon informed the rest of his squad about the situation. Almost immediately after the meeting had ended, Lucina and Lara came in and asked to be a part of the expedition. Though Welkin was initially hesitant at first because he didn't want to put them in any unnecessary harm, the two women laid out pretty good cases as to why they should come. Lucina said that she's been working in enemy territory her whole life and knows exactly how to avoid German patrols, which would come in handy in the Ardennes Forest. And Lara informed Welkin of the American Devil's Brigade is operating in that same area and their base of operations would be their final destination. She had been in London helping to oversee their efforts and she could help Welkin gains some support from them as well. After both their arguments, Welkin gave in and let them come along for the mission.

Lara had exchanged her Officer's uniform over for the combat uniform of the British Army. It was a regular khaki tunic and trousers commonly used in the British Army, having changed very little since the Great War, and wore webbing that held her belt with her ammo and pouches. She wore the Brodie helmet, which was an iconic British steel helmet that has been used by them since the middle years of the Great War, and had a netting cover on it similar to Jack's. She still wore her Jade necklace and her hair was kept in a ponytail. She had a bit of cloth wrapped along her leg from her ankle to halfway up her lower leg, similar to the canvas legging Jack had. She also wore a backpack similar to Jack's which carried the rest of her gear.

Slung over her shoulder was a Sten Mk II sub-machine gun, one of the main armaments of the British Army. It was a reliable weapon that was cheap to manufacture and provided excellent firepower for the British infantry. It's was similar to the MP-18 where the shooter had to hold onto the magazine when firing instead of the traditional way. The Sten holds thirty-two 9mm rounds inside it's magazine, and an added trick is that it can take MP-40 magazines, making it a more useful weapon than others. The other weapon she had on her was her Webley revolver, tucked inside her holster. Even in the age of semi-automatic pistols, the British still retained a revolver as their standard service pistol. This mainly came out a sense of tradition, not of practical use. But even still, the pistol served as a valuable weapon with many British soldiers praising it's reliability and the stopping power of it's six .455 caliber rounds against the enemy.

Next came Lucina, who hadn't really changed her outfit since the day she first met the others. Her outfit relatively remained unchanged as did her initial weaponry, an elaborate sword sheathed and attached to her belt, and a Nagant 1895 revolver. The revolver itself dated back to the days of Imperial Russia, before the Bolsheviks took over and turned it into the Soviet Union. It was an unusual pistol in several ways. First, it held seven rounds instead of the more common six that revolvers carried. Though it's users generally just imagined it as just having an extra shot. It also had the ability to be fitted with a suppressor, a rare item in today's world. But this trait made the weapon exemplary when it came to secretive missions. Everywhere she went, she was always ready for a fight. The price of growing up a fugitive of the Nazi Empire.

Though most of the group seemed happy that these two were going to accompany them, Jack was not. He didn't exactly take the news of that pretty well when Welkin told him last night. Something about spending the next couple of hours traveling via train with his ex-fiance and his supposed friend who broke his nose didn't exactly appeal to him. So it didn't come to anyone's surprise when Jack gestured them and sang this one liner to a tune "Here they come to wreck the daaay!"

Everyone simply looked at him with a look upon their face which instantly caused Jack to shut up without saying another word. Not a moment too soon, they all heard the conductor of the train shout out from the locomotive "All aboard! All aboard for the Ardennes front!"

Without saying another word, everyone else piled on into the train to take their seats. Once all the passenger's and the Regulars defending the train had taken their positions, the conductor and his assistant began to finish the final preparations for the trip. Once it was done, the smoke began to billow from the train and they sounded the train whistle, signaling their departure. Pushing the accelerator, the train lurched forward a bit but soon managed to gain momentum. Soon, the train reached it's maximum speed and like that it sped out of the station and out of Randgriz for the front lines.

* * *

Little did the Sevens know was that they were being watched. Waiting near the exit of the train station, a lone woman sat on a bench, reading the morning's edition of the _Gallian Herald_ as she watched the train that Squad 7 was on exited the station for the front lines. She was a woman of eighteen years of age, with a flawless complexion, waist long lime green hair, and golden colored eyes. She was dressed in a stylish leather jacket, white shirt, and black pants. She wore a nice little beret and a satchel as well to finish up her appearance.

Normally in this state of the war, it would seem suspicious for someone to be outside the subway tunnels or bomb shelters in Randgriz. But recently, things have begun to change. After the Great Raid, there was now an absence to the constant bombings of the city by the German _Luftwaffe_. It was almost like they had given up on bombing the city entirely. With that in mind, High Command declared that it was safe again for the people to exit the shelters and return back to the surface. The city returned to a sense of stability and normal once again as citizens worked to rebuild the city and reopen their businesses. However, it also allowed enemy spies to infiltrate the city much more easily that way, like this young woman who had arrived just this morning.

Once the train was gone, she folded up her paper, placed it inside her satchel, and left the bench. She walked calmly across the street and into an abandoned building after making sure that no one was watching. Inside, she went up the stairs to the third floor and entered an old apartment she was using as her center of operations in Randgriz. It was a basic apartment in Randgriz. It had the basic amenities: a bed, a bathroom, a kitchen and other pieces of furniture, stuff like that. But she also had set up an Enigma machine, an intricate cipher machine to transmit messages to her superiors, on a desk near the boarded up window.

The Enigma cipher machine used the most uncrackable codes in all of Germania. The machines, used by the German military since the early 1920's, was used by the _Inquisition_, _Gestapo_, _SS_, and the armed forces to transmit sensitive information via coded signals and such. The Federation has been trying to crack these codes during the Border Skirmishes but all their efforts have been met with failure. The Enigma codes are the Germans most guarded secret, they change daily and they never use the same code twice, making it seemingly impossible for Federation intelligence services to crack. And that was precisely why German field agents found this device so useful.

The young woman soon took a seat at the desk and began working on the message, typing furiously in code. The translation of the message was as followed:

_***Randgriz Agent to Aslone Command***_

_***Armed Gallian train on route to Ardennes Front***_

_***Defenses on train: standard. Two Oerlikons. One MG. A platoon of Regulars.***_

_***Passengers: Two Militia Platoons. Squad 7 and Squad 1 of Militia's Third Regiment***_

_***Complement: Two tanks. One standard. One confirmed as Edelweiss tank.***_

_***Route taken: Ardennes Line***_

_***ETA: 2 hours***_

_***Randgriz agent: C.C, ending transmission.***_

About ten minutes later she received a reply from German occupied Aslone.

_***Acknowledged C.C***_

_***German units currently operating near Ardennes Railroad Line***_

_***Forces here will contact them and set up ambush site***_

_***L.V.B., ending transmission***_

* * *

_Ardennes Rail Line_

_An hour and a half later_

The train sped across the Gallian country side, less than half an hour away from it's destination. Now, the train was traveling on the top of a steep cliff that from the top, overlooked an entire valley directly below. It was a beautiful landscape, filled with small villages, luscious green forests, rolling hills and more. This was a picture perfect example of Gallia's beauty. Thankfully, it managed to escape the carnage of the war so far. Hopefully it will never reach this area. If Gallia wins this war, sites like this, where the war never hit, could become a symbol of hope for Gallia during it's reconstruction.

Inside the train, Alicia looked out through her window in the first passenger car at the valley below. In a way, much of the scenery reminded her hometown, of Bruhl before the war came. Someday, she hoped that when the war ends she'll be able to go back and help the town rebuild. And if something on the battlefield prevented her to do so...if she was ever killed, she knew that others would come and do what she couldn't.

Currently, only she, Welkin, Jack, Faldio, Ramal, Lucina, and Lara were in the front passenger car with Isara, Largo, and Rosie deciding to sit in the next car with the others. The forward train car was once used to transport first class passengers, now it had been converted for military use, mainly for officers to discuss their battle plans. They were still given comfortable seating at least. It was definitely more luxurious than anything used in the other passenger cars with amenities such as buckets filled with ice for cold refreshing drinks. But none of them really craved such luxuries as the Gallian nobility did. For them, it was just something nice to have but nothing they could ever afford on their own. They simply took it as a good thing to happen today.

Currently, Jack, Welkin, and Lucina were surrounding one end of a long wooden table placed in the center of the room. The three were looking over a map of the Ardennes Forest that was provided to them by Lucina's agents in order to try and develop a plan. Lara was sitting across from Alicia, doing some maintenance on her Sten. And finally, Faldio was reading a book while Ramal leaned against the wall. Feeling the need to do something, she got up from her seat and walked over to Welkin and the others.

"Got anything decided yet guys?" asked Alicia, wondering what their progress so far was.

"Sort of. Lucina's men have confirmed that the German presence in the Ardennes has increased since we took back Vasel. Apparently she thinks that they're gearing up for something big," explained Welkin.

"However, what we don't know is what it is that they're planning," added Lucina.

Jack, now butting into this conversation, said "Either way, those additional Nazi soldiers are gonna make our jobs a hell of a lot harder."

"Agreed. What matter's now is how we're gonna get into the forest to find Mary," explained Welkin, returning back to the task at hand.

Pointing out positions on the map, Lucina noted "The Germans have established strongholds all over the Ardennes. They have troops in the towns, inside old forts abandoned since the Great War, and they send patrols out regularly on the roads. So we'll have to move along the back roads and in the forests to avoid detection."

"Yeah. _If_ we can get through undetected," muttered a disbelieving Jack as he took a chair and sat down. When he looked back at Lucina, she was giving him her infamous glare. She normally did that whenever Jack had done something wrong, even when he didn't even know what he had done wrong. In response to the glare, all that Jack said was "What?"

Meanwhile, away from the argument about to unfold between Jack and Lucina, Faldio, still reading his book, looked to Ramal and noticed he was giving a glare at those at the table. Curious as to what it was about, Faldio merely asked "Something wrong here Ramal?"

Ramal looked away from his commander and replied "Nothing sir. Nothing's wrong."

"I find that hard to believe," noted Faldio.

With a sigh, Ramal looked back to Faldio and explained "It's the American. I don't think he should be here."

"And why is that? Is this because of his court martial?" inquired Faldio. Before Ramal could answer, everyone felt the the train suddenly brake hard and it's speed decrease at a rapid rate. Before anyone could even react, the force of the deceleration was so strong that everyone was thrown off balance and fell onto the floor...hard. After a few more seconds, the train effectively came to a halt, the screeching of the brakes finally coming to an end. Everyone groaned and moaned as they struggled to get their bearings on what had just happened. Jack and Lucina managed to get back up first, each one feeling sore from the impact upon the ground.

"Ow...I think I broke something," groaned Jack.

Meanwhile, Welkin, who was still stuck on the floor, managed to get his bearings. But when he opened his eyes, he saw that Alicia had fallen on top of him. Soon, Alicia noticed she was on him as well, looking at Welkin's equally shocked face. They stare into each others eyes, completely frozen with neither not moving a muscle. They said nothing to break the awkward moment between them for they had no clue what to do in this situation. They could only stay where they were until Lucina pulled her off him and placed her back onto her feet. As Alicia dusted herself off and tried to ignore what just happened, Jack walked over to Welkin and offered his hand to lift him up which Welkin took willingly. After Welkin was back up on his feet, Jack asked him "What just happened? We can't be there now. It's too soon."

"I'm not sure," answered Welkin truthfully.

The door leading to the locomotive opened and in came the Conductor's assistant. She's a Darcsen about Welkin's age, wore a dull gray conductors overall's and cap along with a bandanna with a Darcsen pattern printed on it tied around her neck. Her face along with her clothes were coasted in soot as she and her boss had been working since they left the station. If she was coming here, then she probably knew what had happened. This was confirmed when she looked to Welkin and said "Sorry about the abrupt stop Lieutenant but we got a problem."

"And that would be?" asked Welkin, not liking where this was going.

"Well...the tracks been blocked," she said bluntly.

* * *

**Hope ya guys liked this one. I wonder if you all know exactly who this C.C is by the way. She'll be appearing in later chapters just to let you know.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	68. The Scrapyard

**Just a little bit of info before we start. I've changed a few pieces of information from previous chapters. One is adding another member of Jack's family, and finally changing up the nations that originally helped Gallia regain it's independence from Germania. I've made sure it's fixed in other chapters that refer to them so that everything is up to date. Other than that, nothing much. Hope you like this chapter.**

* * *

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

The train had stopped next to a very large, walled off scrap yard on their left. It was once a stop point in the route the train would pass by as the owner would often receive visitors to come and buy the various scrap he had collected throughout the years. When the war began, the owner had to vacate the area while. And now, the vast scrapyard which covered the entire length of the train just stayed there, no use to anyone at the current moment. Beyond the scrap yard was a large forest with a seemingly high ridge that overlooked it, the scrapyard, and the train.

On the right side of the train, the ground continued for another few yards before it turned into steep and rocky cliff. It was high enough that a single misstep could result in a very painful and bloody end for anyone unfortunate to plummet down. Not a very pleasant way to go out if you asked anyone. And to add to that, there was the obstacle in front of the train. Apparently, someone had place a large pile of debris on the tracks, blocking the train from proceeding any further. The debris seemed to be both large and small scrap taken from the scrapyard and it was so large that if the train tried to simply plow through it would inevitably cause massive damage to the train.

All of this put together put the passengers in a bit of a predicament. Here they were, trapped between a large scrapyard on their left, a deadly drop on their right, and a large pile of junk blocking their way forward. They couldn't go back because Mary and her troops were counting on someone coming to rescue them. If they were going to get anywhere, then they would have to clear out this pile of scrap...and with haste.

Standing in front of the wreckage, Jack, Welkin, Alicia, Faldio, and Ramal could do nothing but stare at the random bits of junk that have been piled upon the tracks to stop their advance. Jack piked up a small piece, and as he threw it back onto the pile he remarked "Well...I think it's safe to assume that whoever put this up doesn't want us getting to the Ardennes."

"Yeah, I figured that one out by myself thank you very much," commented Alicia sarcastically.

"Well we can't just sit here and do nothing. If we stay here, we just look like one giant target for a couple of Stuka's flying by," noted Jack.

Ramal, thinking up a solution, looked to Faldio and suggested "Our squad can clear the wreckage in no time sir? Should we get started?"

"Of course. We better get moving," confirmed Faldio.

"We'll also need to check the surrounding area and set up some temporary defenses Faldio. We need to make sure that there isn't any German soldiers nearby. I'd rather not risk an ambush," warned Welkin. What Welkin said was worth noting. Jack did say that they were a sizable target as long as they stood still here. They might as well set up some defenses just in case the German Army is somewhere in the area. This was an idea that Faldio agreed with. If it was one thing the Germans loved doing, was dropping in unannounced. So it would probably be best if they were prepared for it.

Nodding in agreement, Faldio suggested "Alright then. Welkin, think your men can clear the scrapyard while my men can set up defenses?"

"We can do that. What should the Regulars be doing then?" inquired Welkin.

"Probably just keep defending the train. If it comes to a fight, those Oerlikons and the MG will be pretty useful in a fight," suggested Jack.

"Alright. Let's get moving then," commented Welkin. With that out of the way, the groups got to work. As the Regulars stood watch from their positions on the train and it's guns, Faldio's men got to work on their defenses. Using scrap that they could find in the scrapyard, they created a series of barricades between the first few massive piles of scrap near the train. This helped to form a defensive line against any incoming German attack from the scrapyard. They would use the scrap pile covering the tracks as cover while they slowly work to remove it. And as for the rear of the train, they have moved several large pieces of scrap into position so that the Germans wouldn't flank them. Meanwhile, Welkin's squad, along with Lara and Lucina, were making a sweep of the scrapyard for any signs of German troops or traps. They would do the same for the outskirts of the forest just to be safe.

Squad 7 was separated into teams of two to four soldiers as they slowly made their way through the scrapyard, making sure that there was no one else but them in there. Unbeknownst to them, they were all being watched.

* * *

_Nearby, on the ridge in the forest overlooking the area_

Looking through her binoculars, Captain Aada Schnee spied on the Gallian Militia and Regular forces from her position atop the ridge. After she helped Prince Lelouch set up the false flag operation at Aslone, he had her deployed near the Ardennes forest along with a battalion of German soldiers at her command. He told her to wait there until she received any further orders. And a few hours ago, she received those long awaited orders. She and her men were told to set up an ambush site for an incoming train loaded with troops for the Ardennes Front. She was told that one of the units on that train was the Gallian Militia squad that was responsible for the recapture of Vasel. The Germans wanted these guys for the humiliation that they brought upon the _Wehrmacht_.

From her position on the hill, she smiled at the sight before her. She now had the Gallians right where she wanted them. All she had to do now was spring the trap and wipe them out which shouldn't be too hard. She did after all have way more troops then them and the Gallians had their backs against a wall...or in this case, the edge of a cliff. All they needed was a little pressure and they would all meet their end.

"What are your orders Captain?" asked her Lieutenant, standing right beside her.

Without even thinking through what she planned to do, Aada looked to him and ordered "Send most of the battalion down there. That should be enough to grind the Gallians into the dirt."

_"Jawohl main Hauptmann,"_ replied the Lieutenant, saluting her before heading off to relay her orders to the troops.

* * *

_Back at the scrapyard_

In one area of the scrapyard, Jack and Lucina were slowly advancing, with their rifles drawn and scanning for any signs of the enemy before advancing further. So far they weren't finding anything of the sort, not even a neatly hidden little German booby trap. It seemed somewhat out of place. Someone had clearly gone through the effort of stopping the train from getting into the Ardennes. It stemmed to reason that whoever did it would still eb in the area, and yet there was absolutely no one to be seen. However, that didn't seem to be on the minds of either Jack nor Lucina at the present moment. There was a tense silence between the two since neither had uttered a word since the sweep of the scrapyard began. Trying to break the silence, Jack went out on a limb and asked her "This must be interesting for you huh?"

"What is?" inquired Lucina, not understanding where Jack was going with this.

"To be on the other side of things. I mean, don't the Germans normally do the sweeps and _your_ men do the hiding? Just saying must be an interesting change for once in your life," explained Jack, going through his reasoning.

Lucina just gave him a glare before responding coldly "Wouldn't it be more prudent that you focus on the task at hand Jack, instead of droning on as usual. It may work for your mutual friend Lelouch, but not for me."

_"It was then that it all suddenly made sense to me. Lucina had somehow found out about my friendship with Lelouch. It explained why she was acting so cold to me all of a sudden these past several months. I mean, I could see though why she would be so upset about it. The Nazis were the reason why her family became what it is today: an exiled group of people who have been hiding and on the run from the Germans for three thousand years. And at every turn of the road, they were met with death as one by one, her family has been killed off and dwindled down all these years, leaving only her as Archanea's last living royal. This was one of the reasons why I had never told Lucina of my friendship with Lelouch, and vice versa. My two friends are on opposite sides of the war between the ALF and the Nazi Empire. Though I know Lelouch has no stake against Lucina, she would never believe either of us if we told her." -Jack Lawrence_

"So...how long have you known then?" asked Jack, dropping his guard and looking directly at Lucina. It seemed like now they were going to confront this issue, whether Lucina wanted to or not.

"I've known for months Jack," she responded coldly, not even looking at Jack.

"Okay, well explain to me this: how the hell did you even find out?" inquired Jack. He had taken great pains to make sure this kind of thing never happened. His answer came when Lucina reached into a hidden pocket and pulled out an envelope...one with Jack's handwriting. It appeared that Lucina had intercepted one of Jack's letters to Lelouch. Jack often wrote to both Lucina and Lelouch, keeping them informed of what was going on during his times away from Germania and the other two did the same for him. But what he kept wondering was by what method did Lucina get that letter. The way he sent his letters to both Lelouch and Lucina were very different from each other in it's methods. The mail to Lelouch went through the usual postal services, while Jack had to use his families old connections to certain underground elements in Europa to deliver his letter to Lucina. The only logical explanation that Lucina could have gotten it was if she and her men raided a royal caravan and discovered the letter...at least that's what Jack thought at the moment.

"Okay, so you know. What do you want now, an apology?" questioned Jack, walking over to Lucina. However, he stopped immediately when Lucina pointed the muzzle of her rifle right at him, barely an inch away from his face. That moment pretty much summed up as a 'no' to Jack's question entirely.

"Twelve years. You lied to me for twelve years Jack. Do you not know what that feels like!" muttered a now very angry Lucina. All those pent up feelings inside her about this issue were now coming to the surface as she projected all of them directly at Jack, who was now trying to figure out how to explain his side, calm down Lucina, and not get shot at the same time.

Calmly pushing the barrel away from his face, Jack explained meekly "Well...no, not really. But to be fair I did lie to Lelouch for twelve years about knowing you so the two of you are even on that factor. So that's the good part out of all this."

However, his plan had backfired when Lucina simply grabbed him by his uniform, pinned him against a wall of scrap, getting up in his face, now madder than she was several minutes ago. It was then that Jack fully realized the grasp of his situation and that he had to choose his words more carefully next time he spoke. Lucina looked at Jack, seething with anger, she accused him "I trusted you. You were like a brother to me. How the hell do I know that you were even my friend for all those years?"

Gulping, Jack looked at Lucina and stated "Lucy...I have been your friend. I would never have sold you out to the Germans. That alone is proof enough considering that you're standing right in front of me instead of in a German prison."

Letting go of Jack and lowering her rifle, Lucina let out a scoff before pointing to Jack and claiming "You just don't get it do you? You're friends with a member of the family that destroyed mine! The family that hunted mine like dogs and butchered us for the past three thousand years!"

"Lelouch is not like them. He's not like his brother," said Jack, defending his friend. What he was saying was true however. Lelouch was the complete and utter opposite of his half-brother: the Kaiser of Germania, Byzantium zi Britannia. He was far more progressive than him, which made the young man quite popular among the common people of the Nazi Empire. And also the reason why he managed to rally a large force of soldiers to form his personal and loyal army: the Black Knights. And during the ALF's twenty year long war against the Nazis, Lelouch never lead a single attack on them. That was reason enough to believe the words coming out of Jacks' mouth. But for Lucina, she did not see it that way.

"They're all the same. The royals, their aristocracy, their military, all of them. They prey on the weak and murder the innocent. All of them are nothing but villains," cried Lucina. And this in turn showed how narrow Lucina's and clouded Lucina's vision of Germania had become over the years. To her, if you swore loyalty to the Nazi regime, fought in their military, or were part of it's high society, government, or rulers, they were essentially all the same, and this meant to her that their end should be just as bloody and just as swift. This in turn has made her blind to the fact that there are those among her enemies that are only there because they do not have any choice in the matter.

"You can't paint them all with the same brush Lucina. Just because you're so blind to see it does not mean that it is your right to do so," defended Jack. He wasn't gonna let Lucina's vendetta and anger cloud her judgement. No matter how much Jack hated the Nazis and all that they represented, he knew that not all Germans are loyal supporters of their ideology. And he wasn't just going to smear these people's names so blindly like that.

"These people are my enemy. And I intend to make sure that every last one of them pays for every terrible deed they've done before I'm dead. Of this, I swear," claimed Lucina. She seemed so sure of her beliefs like Jack was and was just as willing to defend her claims, no matter what others thought.

"Oh well that's just great. Of all the royals I could have become friends with, I took the black sheep of the Nazis, and an Archanean that just so happens to be as narrow minded as any Nazi officer I've ever met," mocked Jack, throwing up his arms into the air out of pure frustration at his lack of progress towards Lucina. However, before they could proceed any further into this conversation, they heard a noise coming from behind a tall pile of scrap. This caused the two of them to forget about their argument and ready their rifles against this perceived threat. Slowly advancing to a corner of the scrap, Jack raised his rifle in preparation for whatever he would meet on the other side. Jumping out to take a look, he was surprised to see it was just Rosie. And Rosie was just as surprised because she wasn't expecting Jack to pop out of a corner with his rifle pointed at her.

"Jesus Christ Yankee! What the hell's with the gun?!" screeched Rosie, wanting an explanation for this.

Lowering his rifle, Jack said "I thought you were a German. We're supposed to be clearing out the place remember?"

"Yeah well that doesn't mean that you can point your rifle at me," countered Rosie.

"Why are you over here anyway? Is the rest of the place been checked out?" inquired Jack, changing the topic.

"Yeah. We searched the whole place. The only thing here that's German is some of their cars from the Great War. Now the boss is gathering some others to do a small sweep of the forest. And he wanted me to find you and bring you to lead it," mentioned Rosie, explaining Welkin's new orders. Jack, eager to get away from Lucina and any weapon she had available at the moment as fast as he can. He followed Rosie and helped to lead the group. The scouting party mainly consisted of soldiers from Faldio's platoon, about ten of them in all with Ramal among them. Jack, leading this scouting mission, had several members from Squad 7 along. At least this way he wasn't along among Faldio's men. The men and women that came with him were Shocktroopers and Scouts because in the case that they would encounter any German troops, their mobility would serve them well for they'll need to quickly get out of the forest and back to the others if they saw a large force of German soldiers approaching.

With him was Rosie, Susie, Ted, Noce, Melville, Vyse, Alex, Aika, and Squad 7's medic Fina who grabbed a rifle and tagged along for the trip. The Militiamen of Squad 7 and Squad 1 spread out, covering a wide area as they slowly marched forward, weapons at the ready and aimed forward, keeping a sharp eye out for any German soldier that they would end up coming across. A few dozen yards into the forest, Jack took a look at Faldio's men as they advanced and noticed something else about them that helped to further his initial suspicions from the first meeting at the train station. He noticed their combat stances as well as the way they were holding the weapons. They way they did this simply shouted that unlike the rest of the Militia, these troops seemed to be well acquainted to combat situations such as this.

It was soon very clear to Jack who these soldiers were in fact. It appeared that all of Faldio's men were discharged members of the Gallian Regular Army. Normally, it was standard procedure for Gallian Regulars to become drafted as Gallian Militiamen upon their discharge from the Army. So when the time came for the Militia to be called up, these discharged Regulars would be called up as members of the Militia and add their Army training to this ragtag group of soldiers. These soldiers would often be dispersed among the Militia squads, serving as Sergeants or other officers due to their training being above the normal. But it was a rarity for a whole squad in the Militia to be made up of these soldiers. And now Faldio had perhaps the best trained soldiers in the entire Militia.

"Alright everyone, keep your eyes peeled. The Germans have camouflage on so they'll be able to see us before we ever see them. So be ready for anything," ordered Jack, trying to have them remain cautious. He knew that with the camouflage the Germans had on, it would be difficult to see the Germans before they saw the Gallians.

"Our men will be fine Sergeant Lawrence. Squad 1 can handle anything," assured Ramal, so sure in what he said. Jack could only roll his eyes at the kid. He seemed so by the book and patriotic, yet he had no idea what they were up against when it came to the Nazi _Wehrmacht_.

Trying to talk some sense into the kid, he looked at him and said "Kid, let me put it like this. There's a difference between confident and overconfident. Right now, you're the latter. And being overconfident when fighting the German Army is not well advised if you plan to live through the war. So if I were you, I'd suggest you cut it out."

"My name is Sergeant Ramal. I suggest you call me that Sergeant Lawrence," grumbled Ramal, showing his disdain with Jack's unprofessional like attitude. He couldn't believe that there was an American fighting with the Gallian Militia as a liaison. Even if the man was an ally, Ramal didn't trust him. Many people in Gallia were upset when America refused to enter the Great War that ravaged all of Europa for four long, bloody years. And from what Faldio told him, it was a surprise that he was even still here when he's friends with a German Prince. It just seemed ridiculous that a man like this was even in Gallia in the first place.

Before he could contemplate further, Ramal saw Jack stop and signal for everyone else to stop and get down, which they did, kneeling among the bushes of the forest. Apparently, Jack must have seen or heard something that no one else did. He signaled for Vyse to come his way and just like that, Vyse quickly made his way over to Jack, crouching beside him. Jack took out his binoculars and handed them over to Vyse, and instructed "Look straight ahead and tell me what you see. Because I'm hoping that what I'm seeing is just a figment of my imagination."

Unsure of what it was Jack was suspecting, Vyse looked with the binoculars and soon he got his answer. A few hundred yards ahead of their position, advancing slowly through the forest were hundreds of German soldiers wearing forest camouflage and armed to the teeth with guns, swords, and grenades. They were fanned out over a wide area and were scanning the area ahead for any enemy forces. It was a miracle that Jack managed to see them before the Germans saw them instead. Now they had to figure out what to do next before the Germans found them. Giving the binoculars back to Jack, Vyse commented "That's a lot of Nazis heading our way, a battalion at least. I smell trouble."

"More like a trap. They must have been the ones who blocked the tracks. We have to warn the others," added Jack. With that, they all ran back towards the scrapyard at full speed, hoping to help warn the others before the German's overwhelm them with their numbers and weaponry. Soon, after a few minutes, they arrived back at the edge of the scrapyard where Squad 7 had now gathered together. They heard their scouts rushing back to them and looked to see their panicked faces.

Rosie was the first to speak when they returned "We got company boss. A lot of company. They'll be here shortly."

Welkin quickly stepped into action, giving out orders to respond to the situation. He said "Alright here's what we'll do. Ramal, head back to Faldio's position and tell him what's going on. We'll stay here and stall the Germans for as long as we can before joining you."

Without another word, they sprung into action. With Ramal and the Squad 1 soldiers heading back to the barricade with Squad 7 taking their positions as they prepare for the fight ahead. They took cover behind the trees and smaller piles of scrap that were placed at the edge of the forest, weapons trained and ready to fire on Welkin's orders. As Jack stood behind the wreckage of a car, he heard footsteprs coming from behind him. He turned to see it was Lara coming. She took up position right next to Jack and readied her Sten for action.

"Just like old times huh?" commented Lara with a smile.

"You and I have very different definitions of what 'old times' were like," corrected Jack.

_"We were in it deep now. Here we were, with our backs against the wall, a small army of Germans heading straight for us, not to mention the fact that they were sent by a German commander that was determined to wipe us out. It felt like I was in the Gallian version of Anchorage. I just hope it ended better than the first one." - Jack Lawrence._

* * *

**Sorry for the shorter chapter, but I figured I get this out for now. Stay tuned for the next chapter.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have here.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	69. A Scrap at the Scrapyard Part-1

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

The Germans advanced ever closer to the edge of the forest, and Squad 7 who were lying in wait for them. They all hid behind the bushes, tree's, rocks, and piles of scrap, waiting for Welkin to give the signal to fire. Everyone's nerves were on edge as the enemy marched closer and closer to them. By now, they were about a hundred or so yards away from them. Any moment they would be close enough where no amount of cover could hide the color of their uniforms. If they didn't shoot now, then the Germans would be able to fire first and kill a whole lot of them in the process.

"Hold, everyone hold your fire" ordered Welkin, speaking silently so the Germans wouldn't hear them. It did little to alleviate his squad's fears. Here, before them was an entire battalion of German forces that were spread out before them, revealing their massive advantage in numbers as the Seven's looked further into the forest. They were all getting very anxious and their trigger fingers were becoming twitchy as they hovered over the triggers of their guns. But Welkin continued to tell them to hold their fire until he gave the order.

"If we hold fire any longer then they'll be dancing on our corpses boss," grunted Rosie, whispering in the same tone but with frustration clearly evident in her voice. She was on the verge of ignoring Welkin's orders and just open fire at the closest German in front of her. And what she said was true. If the Squad didn't fire soon, then they were all going to get killed in a few moments. Thankfully, they weren't going to wait a moment later.

As the Germans approached the twenty yard mark, Welkin took a deep breath and readied his rifle and then popped out of cover to fire a shot. The moment he fired, it was the signal for the rest of the Sevens to do the same. Immediately all of Squad opened fire on the Germans with every bit of weaponry they were armed with. Within the first couple of seconds, the Germans were caught completely by surprise as the first few rows of them were cut down in a hail of bullets that pelted their ranks, whittling their numbers down sharply. Once the Germans regained their senses, they quickly retreated twenty yards before taking cover behind trees, rocks, and gullies to return fire back at Squad 7. This in turn started the initial stages of the battle as Squad 7 engaged in a shootout with the _Wehrmacht_.

With the element of surprise, Squad 7 used it to quickly gain a small advantage over the Germans in the opening minutes of the shootout. And with that advantage, they were able to gun down about twenty to thirty some Germans before they retreated back to cover. Though the individuals were originally on equal terms, the rest of the German troops quickly began to join in. And with their combined firepower, they eventually were able to pin Squad 7 behind their cover. As the bullets pinged and ricocheted around them, the Seven quickly realized that this probably wasn't such a good idea.

"Welkin! We can't stay here much longer!" screamed Alicia, hiding behind a tree. Right after she said it, a round struck the tree, almost hitting her face.

"I know! I know," replied Welkin, seeing her point.

"We should head int the scrapyard! We can funnel their troops into the narrow corridors! Their numbers won't mean anything!," suggested Lara, pinned down behind the wrecked car with Jack. What she said was true. Out in the open, the Germans had all the advantages with their numbers. Squad 7 wouldn't stand much of a chance in that kind of situation. But if they fled into the scrapyard and took defensive positions there, then the Germans would have to funnel their troops down the passages were they could only have a few troops move trough at a time. There, the Gallians would have the advantage over them.

"I actually agree with Lara on this one! We won't last long out here otherwise!" added Jack. Welkin was already convinced. Without further delay, he gave the order to retreat. The Shocktroopers gave the Squad cover fire as they pulled back into the scrapyard. Once the others were safe, the Shocktroopers pulled back as well, dodging German bullets along the was. With the short lull in the fighting, Aada's Lieutenant, who was among the German soldiers, gave the Sergeants new orders as to how to proceed with the battle.

"Have two companies attack the Gallian's left flank. Two more companies will assault the Gallians right flank. The rest of you are with me! Push forward to the train and drive these Gallians off the cliff! Your Prince commands it!" barked the German Lieutenant, pulling out his Luger and cutlass before leading the frontal charge while the other four companies moved to assault the Gallian flanks. The moment that the Germans exited the forests on the two sides of the scrapyard, they were met with the resounding firepower of the two Oerlikon 20mm autocannons which tore apart the German troops on both flanks, causing them to lose men and retreat to within the forest. There was no way that the Germans could advance any further as long as those guns firing. So with no other option, the Germans waited for the guns to reload before charging forward to the Gallians, guns blazing. A full company charged at the Regulars who were holding the flanks of the Gallian positions. They managed to take cover in a pair of shallow ditches before the Oerlikon's opened fire on them again, killing those who didn't make it to the ditches and pinning both the soldiers in the ditches a hundred yards from them, and those in the forests.

But once those guns had to reload, the Germans on the left flank popped up and opened fire on the gun, killing the crew before turning their attention on the rest of the Gallian Regulars behind the barricade. On the right flank, the Germans used a different method to take out the Oerlikon. As it was pelting their position with gunfire, even killing several German soldiers and inflicting horrific wounds on several, two German soldiers pulled out a pair of grenades. After priming the grenades and pulling the safety pins, the Germans hurled them at the mounted gun. The grenades landed directly at the feet of the crew and the nearby ammo before they exploded. The blast detonated the ammo, causing a chain reaction that not only killed the crew, but several other Regulars standing right next to it, giving them severe burns which resulted in their deaths.

* * *

Meanwhile, Welkin's squad had ended up retreating into the scrapyard and were quickly chased by the German infantry who were right on their heels. Somehow in the whole chase, the Squad found themselves surrounded around an abandoned, medium sized, two story complex that served as the main storefront for the junkyard when it was still in business. The Squad piled inside the building and in the area around it, creating a makeshift barriers in the corridors of scrap that lead to the building. There, a contingent of Germans had them all trapped while the rest of the German forces proceeded to head to the main barricade maned by Faldio's Squad 1.

Firing from a window on the second floor of the complex, Alicia fired a few rounds from her Gallian-M4 at a German rifleman but her shots struck the large scrap pile he was hiding behind. The shots alerted him and soon he began firing at her with his Gewehr-43, causing Alicia to take cover. However, when she took cover, she suddenly felt this burning sensation in her left arm. She looked to see that one of the bullets the German fired at her barely missed her, creating a deep cut in her arm as well as a tear in her uniform. It wasn't a serious wound, but by god did it hurt.

Looking to see Fina, firing her pistol in an adjacent window she shouted to her over the gunfire "Hey Fina! You have any Ragnaid left?!"

Fina nods her head before reaching into her pouch and pulling out a single dose of Ragnaid. She tosses it across the room over to Alicia who catches it with her right hand. Alicia quickly turned the dial on the side of the container before hovering it over her cut arm. The Ragnite inside the small container glowed blue and the light it emitted began to work it's magic. Soon Alicia saw the deep gash on her arm slowly begin to heal until a few seconds later she turned the device off. Now all that was left of her wound was a scar that over time will fade. With the canister still holding some juice left, enough for one more dose, Alicia puts the canister in her pocket for another use. She then checked her rifle and found out that she still had a few bullets left. With that in mind she quickly popped back to the window and continued the fight.

* * *

At the main barricade, Faldio's men were being hard pressed to hold it against the German forces bearing down on their position. Right now they were standing at the barricade, firing over the top or from whatever small hole that they could fit a gun. The barricade gave Faldio's men some pretty valuable cover but it still wasn't enough to stop several of them from getting hit in the sides, shoulders, and arms. These wounds weren't enough to kill one of them, but it did produce a large amount of pain and Faldio's men were screaming in pain and agony as the Medics from the Gallian Regulars who came with them tried their best to tend to them and the wounded Regulars at the same time. Currently, hey were managing to keep up. But if the battle turned worse, there was no telling how many wounded they would have to treat. One of the Medics move to Faldio and pulled him off the barricade with information he needed to tell him.

"Lieutenant, we don't have enough medical supplied for everyone! What so we do?!" cried the Medic, worried about what to do.

"Just try and do what you can! Save the Ragnaid for the more serious wounds and use whatever you got for the rest! We'll do our best here!" answered Faldio. Just as he said that, another one of his Regulars got hit in the shoulder and fell right off the barricade and onto the ground, clutching her shoulder and screaming in pain. Now the number of Faldio's wounded totaled eight in all. And with their smaller numbers, every soldier that was killed or wounded simply lessened their firepower against the Germans and made their odds of survival all the more dim. The Medic quickly sprang into action, picking up the wounded Militiaman and carrying her quickly out of harms way to behind the train where the wounded were being treated. There they would be safe from the bullets and grenades with the train serving as a protective barrier.

Meanwhile Faldio went back to the top of the barricade, firing at the Germans with his Gallian Mauser rifle. But sadly, the Germans were using the scrap piles as cover as well and were just as hard to hit as a majority of the bullets in this firefight simply missed or struck the rusted metal they were using for cover. This whole battle had turned into something similar to a shootout reminiscent to the first days of the Great War before it turned into the trench warfare that was iconic to the conflict.

Taking position next to him, Ramal peppered a German with steady bursts from his Mags-M4. The shots caused the German to momentarily take cover before returning fire with his Stg44, now causing Rala to duck behind cover. As he and Faldio were hiding behind the barricade, Faldio looked to Ramal and asked him "Where the hell is Welkin?!"

"Don't know Lieutenant! They probably got overrun! Might already be dead sir!" explained Ramal, loading a fresh magazine into his gun. Given the fact that there was no sign of them since the shooting started, Ramal simply assumed that they were all killed when the Germans stormed into the scrapyard.

"Not possible! If there's one thing I know about Welkin, is that he won't go down like this! Once this is over, we can go and look for him! Until then, keep fighting!" claimed Faldio. He didn't believe that Welkin was dead. Not now, or ever. If there was any chance of Welkin, Alicia, Isara and any of the other members of Squad 7 still alive, then they'd search the whole courtyard for them or their bodies. But right now, they would have to keep fighting. Though for now the odds of them coming out of this alive seemed to be getting slimmer and slimmer by the minute. If they didn't get help soon, then none of them would make it.

Looking over to one of his soldiers, Faldio ordered "Get on that radio and see if you can call for help! There should be someone in the area to help us!"

The soldier nodded and grabbed the large backpack radio before setting it down near the train. He suddenly tuned the radio and began to go through every radio channel he could find and scream at the top of his lungs the cry for help **_"THIS IS SQUAD 1 OF THE GALLIAN MILITIA'S THIRD REGIMENT! WE ARE TRAPPED AND BEING OVERRUN! WE NEED IMMEDIATE SUPPORT! IS ANYONE OUT THERE?!"_**

* * *

**_"IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE?! WE NEED HELP OVER HERE! WILL ANYONE RESPOND?! SPEAK GODDAMMIT!" _**screamed Jack at the top of his lungs as he simply repeated the same message into the backpack radio that Karl had brought along with them. Like Faldio's squad, Welkin had Jack man the radio that they had set up on the ground floor of the complex and try to contact any Gallian unit that was in the area, and go through almost any channel that the Gallian military used. So far he was having no such luck as no one was responding to their calls for help. In utter frustration, Jack hung up before looking to Karl, his head ducked low to avoid any incoming bullets coming through the windows.

Jack, his patience running low, looked to Karl and said in an irritated tone "Of all the days when we need help, we end up needing it and no one seems to hear us! What a grand fucking day this is!"

"Do all American's cuss like you or no?" asked Karl, wondering this for a while. Though considering the time and place, it probably wasn't the best time or place to ask.

"What do I look like, an encyclopedia?! Ask the next American you see!" shouted Jack just as an explosion from outside shook the building they were in causing Jack to add "That is if we survive this."

Welkin, Alicia, Rosie, and Largo clamber down the stairs to the ground floor, the building continue to shake from a series of explosions that followed. Whatever those explosions were, it was coming from more than just a few grenades being thrown outside. Most likely the Germans were firing mortars at the Gallians in an attempt to try and flush them out. So far, all those mortars have done was just cause more holes in the ground and more dirt to fly into the air. Not to mention, it seemed like complete overkill at the moment.

"Jack! What's the word?! You get us any support?!" inquired Rosie, yelling over the sounds of the battle.

"No! I'm getting nothing on every channel! I don't think there's anyone near here at all!" answered Jack.

"Just keep trying Jack! Do what you can!" said Welkin before he and the others headed back to the windows to continue and hold off the German forces. Jack however, was more despondent over having to continue his task. He had gone through almost every channel the Gallian military used and had come up with absolutely nothing. Now there was only one channel left that he hadn't tried it. He hoped to whatever God was up there that someone would actually answer their call and rush over to help them. If not...well then they were all screwed.

With a deep breath, Jack tuned the radio to the last available channel they had. He then yelled as loud as he could into the radio speaker saying **_"ANYONE OUT THERE?! THIS IS SERGEANT JACK LAWRENCE OF THE GALLIAN MILITIA'S SEVENTH PLATOON! WE ARE UNDER HEAVY ATTACK BY GERMAN FORCES AND WE REQUIRE IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE! PLEASE RESPOND, OVER!"_**

A few seconds passed without Jack hearing anything. Suddenly the Radio crackled to life when a male voice on the other end spoke saying _"This is the Captain of Squad 422 responding to your call. What is your situation, please respond. over."_

Jack had to restrain himself from giving out a shout of triumph. After all this time he had finally managed to find some group of soldiers within radio distance that answered their call. At last they would be able to get their reinforcements and drive the Germans back. Glad out of his mind, Jack answered back, yelling so that they could hear them _**"WE'RE PINNED DOWN AT A SCRAPYARD RIGHT NEXT TO THE ARDENNES RAIL LINE! THE GERMANS HAVE AMBUSHED US AND WE'RE UNDER SIEGE! IF WE DON'T GET SUPPORT, WE'LL BE OVERRUN!"**_

_"Understood. We're near your location and en route. ETA ten minutes," _replied the man on the other side of the transmission.

_**"WE DON'T HAVE TEN MINUTES! IN TEN MINUTES YOU'LL BE PICKING UP OUR BULLET RIDDLED AND BROKEN BODIES OFF THE BOTTOM OF A CLIFF HERE!" **_cried Jack, outlying their situation. When one points out how outnumbered they were, the fact that they were cornered, their ever decreasing amount of ammunition, and the amount of dead and wounded they had, then it showed that they probably wouldn't last ten minutes without them being overrun and killed to the last man. Whoever this man was, if he didn't get his troops over here quickly, then there would be no one left to save.

However, as Jack was trying to help spell out the urgency of their situation, both he and Karl were both unaware of a certain situation that was unfolding above them. Apparently the shock wave from the mortar explosions had an effect on the building. Cracks were beginning to form on the ceiling above them and were slowly getting bigger and bigger with the shock wave of each shell that exploded when it struck the ground. It appeared that the complex wasn't as structurally sound as one would think. And with the ever increasing cracks, it wouldn't be long until the entire ceiling would collapse on their heads. Feeling a few bits of plaster fall on his head, Karl slowly looked up to see the ceiling on the verge of collapse. And like a deer in headlights, simply remained frozen as his almost impending doom approached.

_**"LISTEN PAL, WE WON'T LAST TEN MINUTES WITH THE NAZIS SHELLING US WITH THESE MORTARS! IF YOU CAN TAKE OUT THEIR ARTILLERY, YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO KEEP US ALIVE FOR A FEW MORE MINUTES. OTHER THAN THAT, GET YOUR BUTTS OVER HERE AS FAST AS YOU CAN!" **_screamed Jack, trying to tell the guy on the other end a way to help keep them alive long enough for their reinforcements to arrive. But before Jack could get any kind of response back, the ceiling finally gave way and several dozen pounds of plaster, wood, and more began falling towards them. Thankfully, Karl's fiance Lynn noticed it as well and at the last minute, she lunged forward, tacking the two of them to the ground as the whole ceiling fell and plummeted to the floor. The debris landed on the radio with some of it simply within inches of them. Groaning, the three of them slowly gathered their bearings after the very hard and forced dive to the ground.

Jack was the first to speak, groaning "A ceiling falling on my head in the middle of a war zone. If I had a nickle for every time that happened to me I'd be richer than my own family."

"Strangely enough, I actually believe that. Karl noticed it but I was the one who saved you guys. I just hope this isn't a recurring thing later on," mumbled Lynn as she slowly rolled off of them and grabbed her BAR off the floor and headed straight to the window to continue the fight.

As they got up, Jack looked to Karl, grabbed him by his uniform, and pulled him in and growl seriously at him "The next time you hesitate like that it'll be the last thing you ever do. Got it?"

"Y-y-yes Sarge," stuttered Karl, answering his question. It was not unusual for Karl. He was never good in situations such as this. He always ended up frozen like a deer in head lights whenever danger was right in front of him. Every muscle in his body simply froze as he would stare at the impending danger before him. But it appears now that this has put him in hot water. Instead of just Karl being in danger, he had dragged Jack into it as well. And if it wasn't for Lynn, than the both of them would have been dead, if not seriously wounded. The two head back to the rubble that nearly killed them and start digging to get the radio. Hopefully the Squad who received their call was still there to listen. Though that idea was doubtful, the current situation didn't allow them the advantage of being picky.

But when they managed to dig up the radio, their hopes were immediately dashed. It appeared that the rubble had completely smashed the radio. It's panel was crushed and the dials were sprung loose, the antennae was bent in several places and nearly snapped in two, and the phone has been broken into pieces. To put it short, the radio was now completely and utterly useless. Jack, now infuriated, was trying to keep his anger in check. And he might have done so, if Karl didn't meekly ask him "So...are they coming to help us...or not?"

Jack, clutching the broken phone in his hand, tightened his grip before angrily saying "I...don't...know. BUT IF I EVER SURVIVE THIS WAR, I'M GOING TO WRITE A BOOK, EXPOSING IT AND THIS GUY'S GONNA BE IN IT!"

"What was his name?" asked Karl.

"I'LL MAKE ONE UP!" shouted Jack as he threw the broken phone out the window in a fit of anger before grabbing his Garand rifle placed nearby and heading off to the fight with Karl doing the same.

_"Unfortunately, I didn't realize the irony of what I said at that moment. Yet here I am, writing this exact event, along with the name of the Squad who would eventually come to save our asses that day. God apparently does have a strange sense of irony...or humor...maybe both." - Jack Lawrence._

As Jack took place by the door, now blown open by one of the mortar shells, he found that Lara and Lucina had taken cover on the other side of the door frame. As Jack tried to take a peek to see what exactly was out, a few bullets hit the wall next to his face, causing Jack to immediately jump back behind the wall. Lara, smiling a bit, inquired "Just like Anchorage huh?"

"There's a difference between this and Anchorage Lara. It's a lot warmer than Anchorage, we're fighting Nazis instead of Russians, and these guys are a lot more competent than the Red Army!" explained Jack before quickly popping out of cover before firing two shots at a German soldier, hitting him twice in the chest before the soldier collapsed onto the ground. Of course Jack did have several good points. This may have been similar to Anchorage, with the impossible odds and the fact that they were basically heavily outnumbered and outgunned. But other than that, it was basically a whole different scenario all together.

Lara could only giggle at Jack before commenting "Heh. You sure haven't changed Jack."

"If you two are done, we're gonna have company soon," announced Lucina, managing to take a peek to see a small group of Germans making a break for the door. Apparently they managed to get rush their way past all the bullets and mortar shells raining down on them and were getting within a few meters from the door. Hopefully, they would be able to get to throw a grenade in and try to clear the room, allowing for the rest of the German forces to converge on the building and flush out Squad 7 before killing them. However, they never quite got to the door as Lucina, Lara, and Jack popped out and shot at them guns blazing. They quickly cut down the small unit of Germans before they even got withing three feet of the door. With one crisis averted, the three went back into cover as more Germans appeared to replace the ones they had lost, further prolonging this seemingly endless shootout. Right now, Jack was hoping that whoever heard their call would try and get here in time...and that they would still be alive when their reinforcements _did_ arrive.

* * *

Back at the barricade, the Germans were having little luck in breaking through. It was time to call in the bug guns to smash through. And they had just the kind of weaponry available. On orders from the German Lieutenant who was with his troops assaulting the barricade, he had two soldiers come up to the front with Panzerschrecks. Hopefully with their firepower, they could be able to breach the barricade and get inside the Gallian defensive perimeter. The two soldiers climbed one of the large scrap piles without the Gallians noticing and once they reached the top, they found that the scrap pile was flat enough for them to walk across. The two moved forward, taking cover behind a wrecked truck. They could see that from their position, they could see the entire train and the enemy barricade as well.

The two of them quickly loaded their Panzerschrecks and peeked their heads out from behind cover to find a good place to try and blow up the barricade. However, while they were up there, they noticed another target of opportunity. They could see a team of four Regulars climbing into the Gallian Light Tank placed on one of the train cars. Apparently Faldio has several of the Regulars try and get one of the tanks operational so they can use the additional firepower and turn the tide of this battle. And judging by the fact that the engine was beginning to rev up, they were becoming successful in that. That tanks became the new primary target for the pair of Germans. They quickly readied their weapons and took careful aim at the Gallian tank.

Before the Gallians could spot them or do anything, the Germans fired. Two rockets flew the air at incredible speed before colliding with the tank's armor. The rockets easily pierced through the thin armor and exploded, obliterating the tank in a fireball, and killing the four Regulars who tried to use it. Now there was two large fires coming from the train. One from the wreck of one of the two Oerlikon 20mm guns and now one now coming from the wreck of this tank. And with half of their heavy weapons gone, things would become much more grim if the Gallians didn't take out those Panzerschrecks and fast. But unfortunately, due to the heavy German assault upon the barricade, and their flanks that are guarded by the Regulars, there was little they could do.

However, it seemed that their solution to this problem appeared any way. As the Germans looked about for other targets of opportunity before they focused on the barricade, one of them noticed something that alarmed him. He saw that the turret of the _Edelweiss_ was slowly turning to it's left: someone was bringing the tank's main cannon to bare against them. He showed this to his partner and both of them soon got to work reloading their weapons as fast as they could. It became a contest to see who would fire the first. The Germans, who were panicking and heavily concerned, were fumbling with the launchers as they tried to load them. They managed to load their weapons, but it was already too late for them. The _Edelweiss_ has already trained it's gun on them. Before the Germans could even aim their weapons, the _Edelweiss_ fired it's cannon, blasting the German position to pieces in one shot.

As the small pieces of scrap from the explosion fell upon the troops at the barricade, Faldio and Ramal looked behind them to the _Edelweiss_, it's barrel still smoking, wondering who had fired the shot. Did one of the Regulars decide to try and use the _Edelweiss's_ cannon as well? Their answer soon came in a surprising twist to what they originally thought. The turret hatch opened up, and out popped Isara with earmuffs and German helmet. She looked over to Faldio and Ramal and waved. While Ramal laid on the barricade, simply stunned, Faldio, with a smile appearing on his face, he chuckled "Always there when you need her. I owe that kid one now."

* * *

**I hoped you guys liked this one. The second and final part of this battle is coming up next. And another group of individuals will make their first, actual appearance into my "On the Gallian Front" series: Squad 422, "The Nameless".**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	70. A Scrap at the Scrapyard Part-2

(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)

From up on the hill, Aada looked through her binoculars to see that her entire assault has now stalled. And she was fuming as a result of this. On all fronts here men were still engaged in combat but had not been able to breach the Gallian defenses anywhere. Now the battle was just becoming this long and protracted shootout between the two forces. Add in the fact that just recently, they had lost contact with their mortar teams, it seems that this battle is not like the quick victory that Aada expected it would be. Though the Germans would likely win due to their strength in numbers, it would end up taking too long. Aada had specific orders from Prince Lelouch: she was to engage Squad 7 and destroy them as soon as possible. And in the current state of the battle, it wasn't likely going to happen. She would have to do something now in order to fulfill those orders.

In utter frustration, she growled "How hard can it be to wipe out a bunch of Militiamen?! Is it really that difficult?!"

One of her Sergeants, who stayed behind with the remainder of their forces, looked to her and admitted "With respect _Fraulein Hauptmann_, we're doing the best we can. But these Militiamen aren't like the rest it seems. They appear to be a-"

Aada interrupted him by finishing his sentence with "A degree above the normal, I know! I read the report about them from Vasel! Honestly I've read that line so many times it sounds like a bad jingle that I can't get out of my head!"

"So what do we do now? The mortars are helping to keep them pinned but not much else," asked the German Sergeant, wondering what their next course of action was. Apparently, Aada had already made up her mind as to what that was.

Reaching into her holster and pulling out her Mauser C-96 pistol before ordering "Keep trying to reestablish contact with the mortars. Once you do, order them to continue bombarding the Gallian strong points. And rally the rest of the battalion. We're going to end Gunther's little unit here and now before they do anymore damage then they've already done. Understood?"

The German Sergeant saluted her before answering "Understood _Fraulein Hauptmann_."

As he was about to walk away, Aada grabbed him by the shoulder, keeping him there. She added to her previous line "And ready the Legionnaires. Let's show the Gallians how much more effective our soldiers are compared to their's."

Her Sergeant nodded and rushed off to relay her orders to the others. As he headed down the hill, Aada took one long, last look at the faraway battle which she would soon be joining. Soon, the Gunther line would come to an end right here in a scrap yard. A pitiful end to a venerable legacy. Aada was almost regretting being the one to actually do it. But she had her orders from Prince Lelouch vi Britannia, no less. Now, she was about to show the Gallians, and Europa why the German military was superior to them in every way. By the end of today, Gallia's rising star would be dead, and the Prince would have one less obstacle on his road to victory.

* * *

Back at the complex, Squad 7 continues to hold the building and prevent any German soldiers from getting closer to them via the large open space around them. It was surprising to these Germans that the Gallians had managed to hold out for so long. They were almost impressed, with _almost_ being the key word here. However, Squad 7 was beginning to run low on ammo, and soon they would have very little in terms of fighting besides with bayonets and using their rifles as clubs. And quite frankly, no one was looking forward to charging headlong into a storm of German bullets armed with melee weapons. Inside the building, the members of Squad 7, though battered and bruised, still stood strong despite the dire circumstances of their situation at the moment.

"Welkin! If there's any chance you got a brilliant plan that will get us out of this, now's the time to tell us!" shouted Jack, loading the last clip into his M1 Garand.

"What about you?! You fought worse odd's before!" Pointed out Welkin, referencing the Siege of Anchorage.

"I'm not a miracle worker here! And you're the boss! That's your job now, not mine! So start thinking!" countered Jack.

However, it seemed that Alicia noticed something that the other two didn't. She hadn't heard the whistling of a mortar shell falling on them for a while now. And that can only mean one thing. She headed to the hole and alerted the others "Guys! The mortars have stopped firing!"

"Ha ha! Looks like our reinforcements are on the way! They can't be far off now!" shouted Largo in enthusiasm, as things are finally going their way for once.

"Yeah, but we still have to keep those krauts from getting any closer! And we don't have the ammo for all of them!" mentioned Rosie.

As the discussed their options, the sound of marching boots began to fill the air. However, this marching seemed different, as if the steps sounded heavier and with clinking metal added to it as well. Whatever it was that was marching towards them, it was definitely not the standard German soldiers they've faced before. They peaked out through the windows to see what exactly was going on out there. The Germans had pulled back a bit and stopped shooting as their reinforcements came into the fight to finally flush the Gallians out of the building. And as the sounds of marching drew closer and closer, their reinforcements, the Legionnaires, came into view.

The Legionnaires were soldiers in the _Wehrmacht_ that hailed from Italy. While some were volunteers, many came from a full legion of soldiers sent to them as a gift from Benito Mussolini, the Fascist leader of Italy. He had selected the finest soldiers in his army for this legion, making sure that it would impress Kaiser Byzantium when he received the gift. Byzantium saw a use for his new Italian soldiers, and placed them in special units of the German infantry and dubbed them Legionnaires, a hearken to Italy's days as the Roman Empire.

These soldiers were dressed in a standard German uniform and helmet, but they were given some added features that helped to fit with their namesake. They were each outfitted with a reinforced, steel chest plate to cover the front of their torso. Other pieces of steel armor that was added were plates covering the shoulders, shins, and metal face plate covering all below eye level. The design of the shoulder, chest, and shin armor was designed to look similar to armor of the Roman Empire yet still able to function in modern day conditions. These were Mussolini's idea, as he wanted the armor to show the glorious past of Italy which he was using through propaganda to inspire his people. Byzantium didn't really care that much, other than the fact that these soldiers perform their duties in combat and inspire fear in their enemies. So far these soldiers have been used for quelling riots and protests in Germania, usually with lethal force. This would be their first experience in a war, and they were quite ready for the challenge.

Their equipment was specialized for their role in the German Army. They were assigned to act as the shields for infantry as they advance forward against the enemy as well as to fight the enemy in close quarter combat along with their cutlasses. For this purpose, they were given large, bullet proof shields that like their armor, was designed to be reminiscent of Roman shields. It was large and rectangular, colored black with an Iron Cross emblem painted on it. The shape of the shield helped to protect the Legionnaire as they advanced. It came equipped with a small visor with bulletproof glass to help with seeing where they were going exactly when they were advancing. There was also a notch on the right side of the shield where the Legionnaire could stick the barrel of his weapon through and provide cover fire as they advanced.

The weapon they were given was the carbine variant of a Mauser C96. Unlike the pistol version which Captain Aada Schnee carried, this weapon was designed with longer range and accuracy in mind. It was given a rifle butt stock along with an extended barrel and wooden grip to the barrel and an extended magazine of twenty rounds to the ten rounds of the pistol version. All of this made the weapon a very useful tool in the hands of a soldier. Originally, these were given to German soldiers who travel on motorcycles. But soon, the Legionnaires were given the carbine as their choice of weapon.

The Legionnaires appeared before Squad 7, before lining up in a row with their shields forming a protective barrier for the German soldiers gathering behind them. Grabbing their carbines, they placed them in the notches and slowly began to slowly march forward towards the complex Squad 7 was in. As they began to advance, the Legionnaires opened fire on the windows, pinning Squad 7 inside. It was clearly evident to what was about to happen. If the Germans managed to get to the building, they would swarm into the building and overwhelm the ammo deprived Gallian unit. They needed to think of something, and think of it fast.

"Is it okay to panic now Welkin? Cause right now I feel like now it the optimal time to panic," questioned Jack, watching in fear as the Germans slowly advanced forward. To Jack, this looked like the end of the line for them. They didn't have enough ammo to deal with all of them. And their bullets couldn't punch through those shields, only dent them slightly and chip the paint. It would be like throwing pebbles at a stone wall. They could try, but ultimately it would do little good.

"Got any ideas for this boss?" asked Rosie, hoping that Welkin actually had something.

"A few. Though I'm not sure how useful they'll be," answered Welkin.

"At this point, I'll take anything. What have you got?" asked Alicia, now beginning to panic with Jack.

"Well one, we could simply lay down our arms and surrender," suggested Welkin.

"Yeah, I don't like that idea," mentioned Jack. He was pretty sure that these guys weren't exactly keen on taking prisoners. They probably had orders to wipe them all out instead. So if they surrendered, they'd most likely be signing their death warrant.

"Okay well the next one is simply to use whatever ammunition we have left and hope we can scatter them," said Welkin.

"We might. It's doubtful, _but_ it may work," pointed out Largo. Hopefully whatever Welkin had next would be better than these two plans.

Before proceeding to explain his last idea, Welkin reached to his belt and pulled out his bayonet and his pistol. He then stated "Lastly, we could try and take the fight to them."

Now that idea was the one that had some merit. Since they had little ammo for their guns and even less grenades, they couldn't continue to fight a ranged battle. It looks like they'll have to do this the old fashioned way: with cold steel knives and bayonets in up close and personal combat. Though a bayonet charge was rare in these days since the end of the Great War, it still happened from time to time during the Border Skirmishes before the war. There were even a few bayonet charges that had occurred in the past month of this war on both sides. And from the looks of the situation, another such charge seem to be warranted. And this one just may have a chance for success. The amount of ground between the Germans and the Gallians was slowly getting smaller and smaller. It would be impossible for the Germans to react fast enough to counter a bayonet charge from the Gallians. Squad 7 could use that this advantage to cause the German lines to break and momentarily gain the upper hand. That is, if the others in the Squad would actually follow another of Welkin's crazy plans again.

Looking for an answer, Welkin turned to the Squad members behind him and was surprised to see them already readying their bayonets and combat knives. Honestly, Welkin wasn't expecting them to be like this. He expected them to at least put up some complaints about the idea before they begrudgingly agreed. Surely nothing like this. Still surprised, Welkin asked them "Okay, how is it that you all suddenly agree with me?"

"We said we'd follow your orders back in Vasel. This is us doing that," answered Hector truthfully. It actually pleased Welkin to see that they were beginning to trust him. He was just hoping that their faith in him wasn't misplaced at the present moment. There was a lot that could go wrong, and a lot of ways they could all get killed. But still, it meant a lot to him that they were ready to go like that. And after seeing Lucina and Lara ready for the fight as well, Welkin decided that now was the time. As he readied his pistol, he counted down from three to signal the charge. Once he got to zero, they sprung into action.

Screaming 'CHARGE!' as loud as they could, they stormed out of the building heading straight at the German troops. The sudden charge caught the Germans off guard as the troops were not prepared to counter this. And as Welkin's plan predicted, they did not react fast enough to counter the bayonet charge. The Gallians smashed into the German line, breaking the Legionnaires shield wall and starting an all out brawl in the middle of this courtyard. With the initial charge, the Gallians had the advantage as they caught the Germans by surprise. But the Germans quickly recovered and began to resist them.

All over the courtyard, the members of Squad 7 fought in tough hand to hand combat against the soldiers of the Nazi _Wehrmacht_ with each side attacking with the butts of rifles, bayonets, combat knives, cutlasses, or any kind of weapon that they could grab from the scrapyard. However, despite the Germans outnumbering the Gallians, for some reason Squad 7 was still fighting on as they weren't losing anyone. They were battered for sure, but they weren't willing to die so easily.

In one area of the fight, Welkin fought off a German soldier who was trying to impale him with the bayonet attached to his rifle. Thankfully, Welkin managed to dodge his attacks enough to provide enough distance for him to shoot the soldier, killing him. However, just as it seemed like Welkin was out of trouble, it reared it's ugly head once again. Hearing someone come up from behind, Welkin turned and just narrowly ducked under Aada's rapier as she swung it at his head. Aada swung several more times in frustration, hoping to score a hit on Welkin. But Welkin managed to duck each swing, leaving Aada only able to cause a cut on Welkin's right arm.

Stopping her attacks, Aada looked dead on at Welkin with an angry glare as the brawl raged on around them. As she stared at Welkin, she said "I went through a lot to find you. Now why don't you be a good dog and just die already?"

"Not really on my list of things to do," replied Welkin, a little nervous about his situation. It was then that Aada took yet another swing at him. Welkin lost his balance and fell on his back with Aada standing over him, savory get this moment as she prepares to end his life. As she raises her rapier for the killing blow, Welkin see's that he lost his footing because he tripped on a cutlass that a Legionnaire had dropped in the fight. Thinking on his feet, so to speak, he knocked Aada off balance by swiping at her legs, and caused her to fall to the ground. Once she was down, he quickly grabbed the cutlass and stood up, ready to defend himself.

Aada, who managed to do the same, wasted no time in attacking first, pelting Welkin with repeated swings, slashes, and jabs. Welkin, who didn't have much experience with a sword, managed to defend himself quite well...though there were a few times in this duel where he almost got killed when the rapier almost struck him. As the battle waged on, the leaders of the two armies clashed together in a duel.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the barricade, the Regular in charge of manning the Gallian Maxim machine gun atop the locomotive was peppering away at the German forces from afar. So far he had used two full containers of ammunition for his weapon and now he had to reload a fresh container of ammo, making the total count now three. As he was pulling out another ammo box, he was struck in the left shoulder by a stray German bullet. Clutching his bleeding shoulder in pain, he hid behind the sandbags as the Germans suddenly began to pepper his position with bullets, pinning him down. With his shoulder now in pain, he would be completely useless at the gun. The recoil and vibrations from the weapon would simply cause his arm to hurt even more, as if a thousand needles were being jabbed into it. But he needed to keep on shooting to provide cover fire for Faldio's men. The on.y question now was how in the world was he going to do that with his bloody shoulder. As he was pondering that question, the conductor's female Darcsen assistant climbed up a ladder on the side of the locomotive and met up with the Gallian Regular as she kept her head down behind the sandbags.

"What are you doing here you bloody Dark-hair?! Get out of here now before you get us both killed!" screamed the Regular.

"If we don't keep fighting, the Germans are going to overwhelm us!" she yelled back.

"Tell me something I don't know!" yelled the Regular.

Ignoring the Regular's last comment, the young Darcsen immediately went to work on the machine gun. Even though she was trained primarily as a mechanic in her military classes, which came in handy for operating the train, she was still adept in firearms training. However, she never took the Heavy Weapons class back in school, so she had little knowledge on how to operate a heavy machine gun by herself. However, being a engineering prodigy she managed to quickly figure out how it operated and quickly reloaded the gun with the ammo box the Regular was about to use before he was wounded. It actually impressed the Regular a hit that she managed to get the gun loaded so quickly...well, it almost impressed him, for a Darcsen that is.

"Do you even know how to use that thing?!" questioned the Regular, watching her work.

His questioned was answered when she took control of the gun, took aim at a small group of Germans advancing towards the barricade, and opened fire with a long burst. Within seconds, she cut down the German soldiers with relative ease. _Now_, the Regular was impressed. He simply looked at her with a dumbfounded look, saying "On second thought...carry on."

The Regular crawled over to gun and helped with the loading. With these old Gallian Maxims, though it was possible for one person to operate it, normally there was two people to do it. One would fire the machine gun, and the other would help load the ammo belt into it. Since the Gallian Regular was in no condition to help fire the gun, he used his good arm to grab hold of the ammo belt and helped load the gun while his Darcsen compatriot took to firing it. The two worked together to try and help keep the Germans at bay.

* * *

Back at the brawl between Squad 7 and the the Germans, certain members of the Squad were putting up one hell of a fight. One such member was Jane Turner, the Nazi killing psychopath. She was having the time of her life, taking down Nazis by stabbing, clubbing, and shooting them with the little ammunition that she had left. Right now, she was in the middle of another one on one fight between herself and her now fifth German soldier she's facing in this brawl. She was attacking him with a sharpened metal rod that she found in a scrap pile while the German had his sword bayonet in his hand, dodging her attacks.

With each missed swing, Jane only got more angry and used this anger in her attacks, making these attack seemed more like blind jabs then precise attacks. This made it much easier for the German to dodge her attacks and soon gives her a good punch to the face, knocking her into the scrap pile. He quickly took advantage and tried to stab her with his bayonet but with one arm, Jane used it to hold off the attack with the blade dangerously close to her head. The German was slightly more stronger, and very slowly, the tip of the bayonet was getting closer and closer to Jane's skin. The sharpened rod that Jane was using was knocked out of her hand when she hit the scrap pile and merely landed on a flat piece of the pile near her. As she was trying to hold off the German from stabbing her with one arm, she reached out to grab the rod, almost managing to reach it as well.

Stretching her arm out just enough, she grabbed the rod and plunged it's sharpened tip deep into the Germans neck before pulling it out. The German staggered back, clenching his neck wound as blood poured out of it. Losing so much blood in the next few seconds, he collapsed onto the ground where Jane got on top of him and stabbed him several more times in the chest, smiling all the while. Once this German was dead, she charged back into the fray with a battle cry, looking for her next unfortunate victim.

* * *

In another area of the battle, Jack armed with the elaborate cutlass that came with the equipment his father left him, was doing exceptionally well in this battle. Armed with the cutlass, he made quick work of any German soldiers who attempted to kill him. Fighting alongside him were Lucina and Lara, with Lucina armed with her signature sword and Lara using a captured German rifle with a fixed bayonet. The three of them were taking down the Germans with relative ease and were hardly having any difficulties in defending themselves. Each of them had a lot of experience in fighting German soldiers in close quarter combat and their experience seemed to be paying off. Jack was doing especially well in dispatching his foes. His movements were both quick and agile like a rapier, yet with the killing force of a broadsword. It appeared that Jack was very good with a sword. Much like the swashbucklers from the pirate films in Hollywood. And Jack owed this all to his youth traveling abroad with his father. He took extensive fencing classes during his youth and applied those skills during his tour of duty during the Soviet-American War. And now he was showing his superior sword skills against the Germans.

"You know Lara, I guess you were right! This _is_ just like Anchorage!" shouted Jack as he cut down another German soldier, agreeing with her earlier statement in the battle.

"The feeling's mutual!" replied Lara. She then hit a German soldier with the butt of her rifle, knocking him on his back before stabbing the downed soldier in the chest with the rifle's bayonet.

"If the two of you are done reminiscing, might it be more prudent if we return to the battle at hand?" inquired Lucina, noting the bigger issue they were dealing with. As she said that, two more Germn soldiers charged at her, cutlasses drawn and ready to end her once and for all. Lucina, noticing them, was calm and collected as they grew closer. Once the first one began to attack, Lucina ducked under his swing before swinging to the German's right and cutting him down with a mighty slash to his midsection. When the second one came at her, she simply impaled him with her sword right through his chest before pulling it out. The soldier slumped down onto the ground, dead as a door nail. As with Jack, Lucina was well adept as using a sword. A time honored tradition among the Archanean Royals of old, each member of the family was taught how to wield a sword. And the sword she uses, dubbed 'Falchion' by her, has been in the Archanean Royal Family for centuries. And even after all this time, it's ability to kill Nazis hadn't changed one bit.

* * *

Next up on the list of those performing well at this brawl was Musaad Mayfield, Mils Daerdan, and Coby Caird. These three men were in one corner of the fight dealing damage to the German forces in their own way. For Nils, he was taking them down the good old fashioned way: with his fists. For Nils, growing up on the streets meant that every disagreement was settled in a fight. And in everyone of his fights, Nils won almost all of them. This gained him a reputation of being the toughest brawler on the streets of Randgriz's underworld. And with every good punch, kick, or haymaker, he was taking down any Nazi stupid enough to cross his path. And there was a lot of them doing so.

As for Musaad and Coby, these two Great War veterans had a whole range of experiences in this sort of situation. Though the Great War was mainly a stalemate, there were times when the Germans would be able to get some troops into the trenches. It was then that the fighting quickly got up close and personal as each side hacked at each other with clubs, swords and more in the tight confines of the trenches. And in the fields of Naggiar, where these two men fought, they had more experience there than any of the other Great War veterans of Squad 7. However, time had taken it's toll on Coby, and he wasn't the quick, avid fighter that he used to be. For a man in his sixties, he was having a tough time fighting off the younger, more agile, and more physically fit soldiers of the _Wehrmacht_.

And this showed as after managing to nail a punch on one of these soldiers, another appeared and punched him square in the jaw. The blow sent him reeling back and having him collapse due to the exhaustion. He was almost beaten, and not sure how much more he could take. The two Germans gloated as they pulled out their bayonets, ready to end the old man's life for good. However, they found their path blocked by Father Hendricks, who stood in front of them. He gave the two Germans a quick grin before deliver in two well placed punches, knocking them both out. Once they were gone, Hendricks helped Coby get back up on his feet. As he did it, he asked Coby "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You're pretty tough for a priest. Where did you learn to punch like that?" coughed Coby, slightly impressed by what Father Hendricks just did.

"I took some boxing classes in my youth as a way to build up discipline and endurance. Never thought it would come in handy. Looks like I was wrong," answered Hendricks.

"But I thought that priests weren't supposed to do such things," noted Coby.

"We don't. But that doesn't mean that I can't try to defend my home. We're all in this together," said Hendricks, pointing his philosophy. As he said that, a four more Germans began to surround them, all armed with their sword bayonets. As they stared down at them, Nils and Musaad took their place next to Hendricks and Coby, making it a more even fight. The two sides charged at each other, continuing the brawl.

* * *

And in another area of the brawl, Juno was trading blows with a German soldier, and the German was winning. Despite Juno's best attempts to block his attacks with her rifle, the German simply began to overpower her. After a few more attacks, the German knocked the gun out of her hands, and kicked her onto the ground. He then pointed his Kar98k at her and prepared to pull the trigger, looking dead on at her as she faced her seemingly inevitable death. He grinned evilly as he said "Say 'goodbye' Bluecoat."

Right before he could do anything, He was suddenly grappled from behind by Aisha. She saw that Juno was in trouble and decided to help her. So she leaped up onto the German's back and wrapped her arms around his neck as an attempt to grapple him. The German, taken by surprise, started flailing as he tried to get her off. All the while he was swearing and yelling at Aisha 'to get the hell off of him' as he put it. Juno was shocked and slightly scared that Aisha was going through all this danger to save her. She told her back at the base to stay back and let them handle the dangerous parts. Though granted, she did lose track of her in the brawl, but she assumed that Aisha was simply still in the building. Juno needed to do something and quick before Aisha got herself killed.

So she quickly grabbed her rifle and took aim at the German, now having thrown Aisha off his back and was about to shoot her instead. As he was about to pull the trigger, Juno fired three shots from her rifle and all three bullets struck the German in the back. The German stayed up for a few seconds before slumping down on the ground, his mouth now full of blood.

"Goodbye," mocked Juno, throwing the Germans words back at him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Welkin was still engaged in his duel with Aada. Despite his lack of knowledge on fighting with swords, he was still managing to put up a bit of a fight against her. Albeit he had a received a few cuts from her on his arms and one across his side, he managed to score a few hits as well. He managed so scratch her arm and leg, as well as a cut to her left cheek. She got angry each time that Welkin managed to cut her, as she was used to always besting her opponents and never allowing them to land a blow on her. And after each of his first two hits, she got angrier than usual and her attacks became just that bit more wild. The last blow that Welkin hit her with, the cut to her face, was the one that infuriated her the most. After that, she started attacking him with a wild frenzy of jabs, slashes, and more, with Welkin barely able to deflect or dodge them. She was simply looking forward to wipe out Gunther and this little band of Gallians for good. They had already cost her a lot of good soldiers today.

Finally, after a mighty slash, she managed to knock the sword out of Welkin's hand and disarm him completely. Now she had him right where she wanted him. She smiled as she pointed her rapier at his throat, ready as ever to finish this. As she savored this moment, she said these final words to Welkin who looked at her with fear in his eyes "The Gunther line ends here with you. Get ready to see your father again."

Just as she was about to react, they heard another round of gunfire coming from both sides of the scrapyard. These weren't coming from German guns: but from Gallian ones. They were coming directly from the forest. On both sides of the Gallian flanks, soldiers in black Gallian uniforms appeared from the forest opening fire on any German soldier they saw. This effectively caught the Germans in a crossfire between these soldiers and the Gallian Regulars, resulting in many deaths for the Germans. These were the men and women of the Regular Armies' 422nd platoon, 'The Nameless'. They've managed to arrive in the nick of time and rescue Squad 7. They steadily advanced forward, pelting the German flanks with bullets, rendering them to be ineffective.

Aada soon realized that she was outmatched. Without the troops on her flanks, her men were now severely under powered and outnumbered. They couldn't take on the Gallians if they could hit them from three different sides. If they didn't do something soon, then they were all going to get wiped out. Aada wanted to finish this, to wipe out Squad 7's existence once and for all. But if she stayed here any longer, then she and what was left of her battalion destroyed. She had only one choice left. And as much as she hated to admit it: she had to order a retreat.

"Everyone! Pull back! Get out of here!" shouted Aada as she and all her men in the scrapyard began a full retreat back into the forest. As the Germans fled, the Gallian Militiamen and Regulars cheered at the sight of the Nazis, running with their tail between their legs. The battle was over. Now the Gallians could head back down the tracks to the rendezvous point.

* * *

**Well this took a while for me to type up. Sorry for the wait all. The Nameless make a much more prominent role in the next chapter. There you'll actually see some of the characters from this unit. Next stop, a little place on the Ardennes Front called 'Fort Drakon'.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, Don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	71. Fort Drakon

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_"The Nameless. I didn't know that's who they were when we first met. They could have been the Valkyria reborn for all I cared. I was just happy that they showed up in time to save our asses. If they showed up any later, we would have either all be dead or be on our way to a German P.O.W camp. Other than that, I knew very little about the group, saved for a few rumors that I overheard from a few Regulars and Militiamen. From what I can tell, it looks like they're mainly just some kind of special forces unit. The kind of missions they did were off the books and were the kind that they stuck in files labeled 'Classified' and buried them in file cabinets so far back that they would never see the light of day again. From the Black color of their uniforms, it seemed easy to mistake them for looking like the Waffen SS. Thankfully these guys were on on side instead of the SS. We didn't know their names from our first meeting, but soon we would learn that their names were Kurt Irving and Riela Marcellis_

_Even so, a lot of people were killed in this battle before they arrived. About twenty Regulars had been killed in the fighting, and Squad 1 had almost a dozen of it's members wounded as well. Their wounds were not very serious and they could be treated once we reached Fort Drakon. Once there, with some doses of Ragnaid they would be out of the hospital and be back at the front in no time. The Germans however fared much, much worse then us. A full battalion of Germans totaled about eight hundred men. Out of those eight hundred that attacked us, I think we killed out maybe two thirds of it, and that was adding the mortar teams that the Nameless took out before they arrived. At least that's what our best guess was. After the Nameless helped us fix up our mess and got our train moving again, they boarded the train with us and we steamed off to the fort. Hopefully there wouldn't be anymore ambushes on the way." - Jack Lawrence_

The train was now once again on the move, heading at full steam towards Fort Drakon without a moment to lose. Their load was now lessened due to them having to abandon one of the Oerlikon gun platforms and the train car carrying the Gallian Light tank. Since both of them were destroyed, they were of no use to the Gallians and had to be abandoned. This in turn, helped to lessen their load and help the train pick up some speed, putting them back on schedule...in a sense at least. They were already extraordinarily late as it was, at least two hours in fact. Now they were just trying to catch up on lost time. Though there was some concern at having the members of the Nameless into the train cars out of fearing their wasn't enough space for them all, and due to their reputation, they eventually took place on the roof with the remaining Gallian Regulars instead and the problem was solved.

In the front car where the officers were in, with Faldio and Ramal absent, it welcomed two new members inside: the commander of the Nameless, Kurt Irving, and his Second-in-Command, Riela Marcellis. Kurt was younger than Welkin, about twenty years old to be precise. He had black hair and brown eyes, and just like all the members of the squad, had a black colored uniform, possibly a modified version of the normal Regular's uniform. His collar was raised up in the back and he had black armor plates on his knees, hips, upper arms, elbows, and a form of an armored gauntlet covering his hands, and lower arms. With a strap going across his chest and over his shoulder, he had a leather holster attached with a Colt 1911 inside of it, and combat boots stolen from the German Army. On the right side of his uniform, he had a patch that had the numbers '07' in big yellow font. And on the left side he had a patch that had a black and white image of an German Shepard with his mouth muzzled and the numbers '422' placed above him. This patch was the symbol of Nameless and those men and women who fought in it. Each member of the Nameless had their own number assigned to them and that same patch.

His Second-in-Command, Riela, was a young woman about a year or less older than him. She was a buxom, bright girl with a flawless complexion and ruby red eyes and was just a little bit shorter than him in height. She had long hair that was waist length and part of it was tied together with a small piece of fabric. Her hair color was peculiar to say the least. Her hair was the same red color of her eyes and ran down to about her shoulders and them it quickly transitioned into a silver color that made up the rest of her hair. Her uniform seemed to also represent her seemingly exotic personality.

She wore a white shirt underneath her black uniform top that was unbuttoned except for the top one. Her sleeves were cut short and rolled up to allow better movement and she wore a pair of brown leather gloves. She had a small brown corset placed around her waist and over the white shirt. Then she had a red skirt with part of her white shirt sticking out from the bottom of the corset to cover it. Her brown leather boots reached up to her knee which was covered with armor plating. The final touch was the black wool leggings that reached up to her thighs. Her number was different from her superior's, with her having the number '13'. A rather unlucky number in popular culture.

_"Just from the first few looks of them, I could tell that these guys were different than the normal soldiers that made up the Regular Army or the Militia. Somehow I got the feeling that these guys went on the kind of missions that would be considered suicide by either group. If that was true, then these guys were either very, very brave...or they all had one hell of a death wish." - Jack Lawrence_

"Thanks for showing up when you guys did. I don't think we could have held out for much longer," thanked Welkin, shaking Kurt's hand.

"The pleasure's all mine. We couldn't just ignore your message," thanked the Kurt, "By the way, just who exactly are you anyway?"

"Oh sorry. I'm Welkin Gunther, I command the Gallian Militia's Seventh Platoon," explained Welkin.

"Welkin Gunther? The Militia commander who pushed the Germans out of Vasel?" asked Kurt, clearly hearing of him before. Apparently word of Welkin's victory at Vasel had spread like wildfire among the Gallian Army. No one could blame him. Squad 7's victory that day against the Germans served as a major morale boost for the fledgling Gallian military that was losing hope every day that they would ever win the war at all. But when the word of the German's withdrawal from the city spread, it helped to lift their spirits again. If a handful of Militiamen could accomplish this task, then it was possible to have the whole German Army be pushed back across the border back to Germania.

"Yup, the same guy. And we're his goons," uttered Jack as he sat in his chair next to Alicia, who elbowed him in the stomach when he said that.

Recoiling from the blow, he looked to her and questioned "What was that for?"

"For not knowing when to shut up. And plus I'd prefer it if you didn't call us goons," answered Alicia.

"This coming from the woman that when we first met, accused me of being a Nazi spy...at gunpoint," noted Jack, recalling the events in Bruhl.

"Hey, I said I was sorry! Are you ever going to let that go?" questioned Alicia.

"Probably not," answered Jack, being blunt in his answer.

"Okay guys. You can stop now. Let's just move on," said Welkin, calming the situation down. Jack and Alicia quickly let go of this argument and moving the conversation back onto topic.

"So what about you, what's your name?" asked Welkin, looking back to Kurt and Riela.

"Number 7," replied Kurt.

"Uh, I'm not sure you understand correctly. He asked you for your name. Not for the number they put on your uniform," corrected Largo, a little puzzled by the response. Largo wasn't sure whether the man misunderstood the question or if he just wasn't supposed to reveal his name. At best, he simply assumed the former instead of the later. I mean, he couldn't figure out any good reason why they were not allowed to reveal their own names.

"For us we don't have names, just identification numbers. Mine is just Number 13. We don't exist in the official military records," explained Riela.

"Huh. I see. You guys sound similar to Chameleons," noted Welkin, scratching the back of his head. Rosie, Largo, Jack and Alicia groaned as they knew where this was going: another one of Welkin's little 'nature talks'. Jack, not wanting to hear this, went to the back of the car where Isara, Lucina, and Lara were. He would rather stay in the back with his ex-fiance and former friend than have to listen to another one of Welkin's lectures about nature. He had heard more than his fair share of them when the two of them attended the university at Randgriz. By the end, Welkin would always find Jack fast asleep, having been bored to death by the very end of the speech. So for this one, he was just going to lay in the back of the train car and try to zone out this whole thing, maybe hopefully catch some sleep...if that was even possible. He was contempt to have Welkin drone on about nature to someone else instead of him. The same could not be said for Alicia however.

_"Alicia was a bit more grounded and Welkin, and a bit more conscious about the image about Squad 7. I couldn't blame her for that. The Regular Army, and Damon in particular, set about making the Militia look like a bunch of meek, worthless soldiers compared to the Regulars. With Squad 7 beginning to come into the spotlight thanks to Welkin's brilliant victory at Vasel, it was key for us to keep up our image. And things like Welkin's...unusual, I suppose, way of doing things might make that pretty difficult. So Alicia, being her usual self, somehow decided that she would try to curb Welkin's unusual behavior I suppose." - Jack Lawrence_

Getting up from her seat, she stood at Welkin's side and scolded him "Welkin! You don't have to speak so rashly!"

Welkin, raising his hands in defense, merely pointed out to her "It's not rash. Chameleons have the ability to change their skin color according to their environment and whatever surface they're on. The ability to blend into the natural world and disappear from existence seems rather incredible. Of course, it's not possible for them to change into red and black because that doesn't exist in the natural world-"

"Um, what the hell is he talking about?" asked Riela, scratching her head in confusion.

"Hey Welkin! The poor blokes are getting confused here. I think it's time you cut it out," suggested Largo, getting up from his seat along with Rosie and took their places beside Welkin and Alicia.

"How did this whole conversation go from thanking them to nature so quickly?" mumbled Alicia to herself as she pinched her brow and shook her head.

"Sorry about that, but when our boss starts yapping about nature, it takes a miracle to get him to shut up...or the occasional German attack," said Rosie in her usual blunt manner.

Crossing his arms, Kurt looked to them and responded "Yeah. I can see that."

Meanwhile, in the back of the train car, Jack was beginning to regret his decision to stay there. Because now right across from him, Lara and Lucina were both enjoying their conversation with each other. And the topic of their conversation: Jack himself. They were both talking about their various experiences with Jack over the past, both the good and the embarrassing. And each of them had their own stories that the other didn't know about. And each story led to another round of laughter between the two girls. But it also led to Jack to hide more under his helmet as he moved it slightly forward every few seconds. It was bad enough that he had to deal with the two of them on the same train ride, but it was another thing that they were becoming friends at Jack's expense. Clearly, God really did make his life as a living joke. As he sat down in his seat, he muttered to himself "God will this torture never end?"

"What's wrong with you?" asked Isara, sitting next to him and wondering why he was acting so strange.

Moving his face out of his helmet, placing it back on his head, and looking at Isara, he said "My ex-fiance and my so-called friend who broke my nose are discussing about every embarrassing thing that ever happened with me. How would you feel if that was you?"

"I suppose I wouldn't like it," answered Isara honestly as she took her canteen and took a sip.

Jack, now burying his face in his hands, asked "Now what am I supposed to do? This is going to be a nightmare."

"Well, if they know things about you...then doesn't that work the other way around?" inquired Isara, offering a solution to his problem. The moment she said it, Jack instantly shot his head up and looked as if he had an epiphany. Isara gave him the idea for how he could turn this whole thing around to his favor. While it was true that Lucina and Lara knew things about him, _he_ also knew things about the two of them. Things that they didn't want anyone else to know. He now had the leverage that he needed, and it was all thanks to Welkin's brilliant little sister.

Brimming with excitement, he turned to Isara, hugged her tightly and laughed "My God! You got it! You are a genius, Isara! A bloody evil genius!"

When she was let go, Isara looked to Jack and simply stated "I guess that helped."

Without a moment to lose, Jack got up from his seat and walked over to Lara and Lucina, already laughing from a story that Lara was mentioning from their days in Alaska during the war with the Soviets. Apparently they were both getting quite a kick from the story. As they were finishing up with it, Jack interrupted by sarcastically asking "Ha Ha Ha. You two think this is so funny don't you?"

With smiles on their faces, they simply looked to him and responded in unison "Yes."

Looking to Lara, Jack delivered his punch line and countered "Well laugh it up. Because I know things about you too. Like a certain embarrassing song that you like to sing in the shower."

Instantly, Lara's smile disappeared from her face. She knew precisely what Jack was talking about. The song he was mentioning was a pretty embarrassing one that was for sure. It was a complete flop on the song charts back in 1923 but she still liked it. It was something she liked to sing during the war as a means to try and get her mind off the chaos and bloodshed that was going on. She especially liked to sing it when she was in the shower. And Jack more than once heard the song. And that kind of information wasn't something that she wanted him to be blurting out to everyone within earshot. With both concern and anger evident on her face, she looked at Jack and accused "You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, I think you and I both know that I would," laughed Jack, smiling like a fool. But a fool who knew precisely what he was doing. He then looked to Lucina and then told her "Perhaps I should also tell them about your sense of fashion as well."

Now it was Lucina's turn for her smile to disappear. Lucina's choice of fashion was...more peculiar than usual. She never quite had a normal experience shopping for clothes since she was always on the run and hiding from the German Army twenty four-seven. So she had different tastes than the normal eighteen year old girl. Unfortunately she had the mistake of telling Jack about that...and showing the strange clothes that she liked. And now she was put in the exact same position as Lara which she didn't like one bit.

"If you do that Jack, I will make your life a living hell," threatened Lucina, pointing her finger at him and staring intently at him. She was hoping that he was smart enough to know precisely what kind of hell she and Lara would do and that he would keep his mouth shut in order to avoid it.

However, Jack didn't take her threat quite seriously and he simply looked over to Welkin and began to walk over, saying "Hey Welkin, there's something I want to mention. It's-"

* * *

In the train car directly behind them, Faldio and Ramal were siting at the front of the car while several members of Squad 7 who were lounging around as they recovered from the battle. Faldio was simply lying back in his seat as he tried to catch some sleep. But he was having difficulty doing so because right next to him, Ramal was cleaning his weapon and doing some quick maintenance on it as well. The various clanks of metal moving as he cleaned the gun was loud enough for Faldio to always be kept awake no matter how hard he tried to ignore it. Hoping to at least have Ramal cease for a few minutes, he asked the young man "Is there a reason that you've decided to do that now instead of when we actually get to Fort Drakon?"

"I figured that it would be helpful to be ready in case we get into another fight before we arrived at the fortress sir," honestly explained Ramal.

"I doubt that the Germans would try and launch another attack on us Ramal. They lost too many troops trying to take us out back at the scrapyard," noted Faldio, contradicting Ramal's thoughts.

"We need to be prepared sir, unlike some people," uttered Ramal, looking back to the members of Squad 7 who were simply acting as if there wasn't even a war going on. They were laughing, telling jokes, and doing all kinds of things soldiers wouldn't normally do when they were at war. This just irritated Ramal to no end. They were at war, and here they were acting as if nothing wrong was going on. He wondered to himself if any of them actually understood the gravity of their situation. If Gallia lost the war, it would signal another long and terrible era of German reign over the country. He just couldn't understand how Militiamen who were supposed to be willing to give their all to defend their country would behave this way. It was just something he couldn't stand.

"Don't worry Ramal. What's the worse that they can do?" bluntly asked Faldio, who couldn't fathom a single way things could get any worse. Just as he said that, the two of them heard a commotion coming from the officer's car in front of them. It sounded like there was some kind of brawl going on. The two of them immediately got up from their seats and moved to the officer's car, opening each of the doors on the way there. When both of them got inside the officer's car, the saw what it was that was going on. And it surprised them to see exactly what it was.

_"When Isara gave me the suggestion to try and use my knowledge of Lara and Lucina's secrets against them, I should have just ignored her. Instead, when I tried to tell Welkin and the others what I know, Lara and Lucina decided to pounce on me to try and keep me as silent as possible. This in turn started something of a struggle for me to try and get out of their grip while the girls struggled to keep me pinned down. For a moment, I thought that I would have to fight them off myself. But thankfully that was not the case. Alicia and Isara came to my aid and tried to pull them off of me...or at least they were trying to do so." - Jack Lawrence_

Hearing Faldio and Ramal enter the car, the wrestling match seemed to stop as everyone looked to them, alerted by their arrival. By now, Jack was pinned to the ground, barely even kneeling down. Lara has her arms wrapped around his neck in a chock hold and wasn't letting go at all. Lucina meanwhile had grabbed hold of Jack's arms and was pulling them behind his back with her boot placed firmly on his back to provide stable footing. Alicia was grabbing at Lara to try and pull her off, same that Isara was doing as well. The others in the room were simply watching all of this unfold like it was all entertainment. Everyone simply stood frozen as they tried to figure out who was going to speak first.

Just as Jack was about to speak, once again the train suddenly and without warning, hit the brakes and caused the train to decelerate at a rapid rate. The sudden change caused every one to lose their balance and flew forward, hitting the ground hard when they landed. The trains wheels screeched as the brakes were applied. Soon the train slowly but surely came to a stop at it's final destination. As everyone slowly got back up on their feet, groaning all the while, Jack announced "Something tells me we're at Fort Drakon now."

* * *

Fort Drakon, Gallia's last remaining stronghold in the South. Today, the fortress is the headquarters of the Gallian efforts in the Southern Front, coordinating the defenses that still remained under Gallian control and the forces that defended them. It sat just outside the Ardennes Forest, the area that remained under Gallian control that is. Like the Aslone fortress, the fort is shaped like a star and was built during the Nazi's two hundred year rule over the country. And like Aslone, it's walls and weapons have been upgraded as technology advanced throughout the ages. It helped keep the Germans at bay in Southern Gallia during the Great War, and the fortress still possesses some of the scars from that war. Though much of the damage has been fixed, there are several places where it wasn't repaired. This became a symbol of sorts for the defenders of this fort, showing that they're battle hardened and they don't go down easily. The base also had the addition of an airfield located directly on it's west side. There were already a whole squadron of planes stationed at this field, making it the only airfield used by the Gallian military in the Southern Front. There were several barracks located inside both the airfield and fortress along with some located just outside of both. But the occupiers of Fort Drakon and it's airfield weren't only Gallians. This fortress served as the home base for the International Volunteers Brigade, or IVB as it's members nicknamed it.

_"When Varrot mentioned to me about the Devil's Brigade, she failed to mention they were part of the IVB. When we arrived at the fort, Lara pretty much explained to us the whole point of this. The IVB was formed about two weeks after the war began. It was made from volunteers from the armies of America, Great Britian and Ireland, France, and surprisingly the Soviet Union. The total number of the unit was about ten thousand strong, give or take a few soldiers. They sent soldiers to Gallia to try and help the Gallians. For the Americans, this was to help the Gallians as well as to help establish tactics as to fighting the Nazis. That was the only one I knew, as for the other three, it was a complete mystery to us. Perhaps they saw an advantage in keeping Gallia an independent nation that few other people saw. Either way, the soldiers here were the only foreign troops officially fighting in the war aside from the Gallians and the Germans. At least they were fighting on our side._

_Mostly they comprised of just infantry with some heavy weapons such as heavy machine guns and mortars. And judging by the airfield, perhaps they brought along a few pilots with them. Other than that, we weren't quite sure as to what else the IVB brought with them. For me, I was hoping that they brought along a few tanks with them that could hole their own against the Nazi Panzers. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we had the Edelweiss to turn them into twisted and smoldering hunks of metal, it just would be nice if they didn't all point their guns at it when it appeared and they had something else to shoot at." - Jack Lawrence_

After they arrived at Fort Drakon and when Lara explained the situation of the IVB to them, they set about to getting settled in. Several Regulars would help the Militia squads and the Nameless unload their remaining equipment and lead them to their quarters, Meanwhile, Lara took Welkin, Alicia, Isara, Jack, Rosie, Largo, Faldio, and Ramal into the fortress and get them acquainted with the commanders of this fortress and the units residing inside. With the guards open the main gates, the group officially saw how things were like on the inside.

Inside, they saw British, French, and American troops moving about. They were manning their posts and doing their duties assigned to them in keeping their operation running smoothly and to keep this fortress defended. The British and American troops were dressed like Lara and Jack were, but the French had their own uniforms as well. During the Great War, their uniforms had dark blue overcoats along with bright red trousers and caps. This made them pretty easy targets like their Gallian counterparts. The made them adopt a duller blue uniform which made it a slight improvement. After the war, they adopted a dark brown colored uniform to replace it, recognizing the need to have some form of camouflage. They kept the Adrian helmet, the helmet they wore during the Great War as their helmet of choice, helping them to stand out among their allies.

The troops themselves were diverse in appearance. For the British and French, there were some troops that came from all over their colonial empires. There were soldiers that came from India, Malaysia, Africa, and the Middle East for both of them. The same could be said for the Americans, who have one of the most ethnically diverse people with them coming from the Mainland, along with the Canadian, Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific states. A truly multi-ethnic and multi-national force of volunteers. Each of them had their own versions of the uniform of the nation they served. This helped to show just how diverse this group was to the Gallians.

And as the group traveled further and further into the fortress, they saw a most spectacular sight marching towards them. Marching towards them was one of the latest creations for the American military: the T-45 Ragnite Power Armor. Developed just before the onset of the Soviet-American War, this was designed to bolster the infantry forces and become heavy hitters on the battlefield. It is essentially a suit of modern day armor that completely covers the wearer from head to toe. It's designed to take a lot of damage, giving it a high amount of durability and helping to improve the wearers chances of survival when in the thick of battle. The armor was thick enough that any kind of bullet smaller than a .50 caliber bullet wouldn't be able to pierce it. The steel armor is powered by refined Ragnite kept inside a backpack like device on the back plate of the armor. It powers mainly the electronics and filtration system that operates in the helmet. The suit also has an intricate cooling system which allows it to cool or warm the user according to the environment that they were in. The bulky frame of the armor and the sound it made as it moved, pretty much made it useless for stealth missions. However, since it was designed for front line combat, that detail was mostly overlooked.

The T-45 made a grand appearance in 1933 during the war. It came into play just as the United States was pushing out the remaining Soviet forces in Alaska. They frightened the Soviet troops, as their weapons simply seemed to have no effect on the Power Armor. And when America invaded Russia and took the fight to their front door, the soldiers wearing the T-45 Power Armor lead the way, pushing deep into Russia throughout the campaign. The T-45 made such a good impression that American High Command ordered thousands of them and for them to be placed in every unit in the American military. The soldiers who fight in the T-45 are issued with heavy weaponry to aid in helping to break through the enemy lines. Their standard weapon was the BAR light machine gun but they could also use the M2 flamethrower, the Bazooka anti-tank launcher, and the M1919 heavy machine gun. The combination of weaponry, protection, and more helped coin the saying 'If you see a man in Ragnite Power Armor heading towards you...run'.

As the passed by the group, who stopped to watch them pass, they were quite in awe as to what they saw. Jack and Lara, who had already seen them before during the war, simply paid no real mind to them. Jack, focusing more on the task at hand, he looked to Lara and asked her "So what's your role in all of this?"

"Administration mostly. I coordinated efforts from back in London. I've been sitting at a desk since Liberty Squad was disbanded. Hasn't been quite the same really," explained Lara.

"You're actually saying you miss being out in the field?" asked Jack. When the Soviet-American War ended, Lara told him she was quite glad that they wouldn't be fighting again. He got the impression that Lara simply didn't like the idea of being on the front lines. He assumed she would have liked just staying behind the front lines, doing paperwork for some General she would be assigned to as his assistant.

Lara simply dashed that idea by simply stating to him "No. I don't. Not one little bit."

Welkin, walking into the conversation, inquired to Lara "What's next for us?"

She explained to Welkin as best as she could, saying "Well first I'll introduce you to my superiors. They pretty much run things from here while I worked out of London. After that, you'll reside in Fort Drakon until we can locate Lieutenant Read and her troops. We just need to be careful as we get to the Command Center."

"Why's that?" questioned Welkin, wondering why they needed to be careful inside of a Gallian fort. Before Lara could answer the question, it was soon given to them when they heard someone call out 'Hey! You!' from a distance. The group looked to the direction of the voice to see a large group of Russian soldiers heading straight for them...and they did not look happy at all.

* * *

**This was a chapter I've been looking forward to writing for a while. The official first appearance of the Nameless, the introduction of the International Volunteers Brigade, and my personal favorite: the reveal of the T-45 Ragnite Power Armor for the American military.**

**Now just to clear up a few things, the T-45 Power Armor comes from Fallout. I know some of you may object to my decision to put it in but when you look at the Fallout universe, it's culturally similar to the late 40's and early 50's. This makes it feasible for it to appear in this story. The model of the T-45 being used is the T-45d model, just to clarify with you all. And I figured since they appeared in Fallout 3 lore during the Alaska campaign, I thought it would work if I made them appear during the Soviet-American War in this universe. So in a way, this idea can work.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	72. Old Enemies and Surprising Friends

(Note:_ I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_"Of all the people I could have run into with Gallia at war, much less on the brink of annihilation, it just had to to be the Russians didn't it? It's not like I held any kind of grudge against the Russians anymore, it's just that they seemed to have one heck of a grudge against me in particular. When the Soviet's got repelled from Anchorage by me and my squad, a lot of soldiers from their best units got killed in the fighting. That was reason enough for them to really pissed off wouldn't you say? Either way, that battle was a complete humiliation for them._

_So while everyone in America was calling me the 'Hero of Anchorage', the Russians ended up referring me as the 'Butcher of Anchorage'. Not sure if that was even a worse name or not. And after the battle, as I was lauded as a hero, Soviet High Command placed a bounty on my head and that of my unit, making us enemy number one if we were spotted in any battle. And quite frankly, there was a lot of Russians who wanted to claim that bounty. Heck, it was more than any of them probably made in a year under the Soviet regime. _

_When the war ended and Stalin was overthrown, the new Premier, Dimitri Novogod removed the bounty on my head as he tried to keep his crumbling government from falling apart. I was even surprised when he gave me the Oder of Lenin medal at the peace conferences. I remember asking him why he gave it to me. I remember that question because of how he responded. He told me 'you deserve something I suppose.' Not sure what he meant by that, but I took the medal anyway. When the war ended, I thought that it would be the last time I would ever have to deal with angry Russians. Apparently, I was very much mistaken." - Jack Lawrence_

The mob of Russian troops marched up to the group, looking quite angry and irritated. They were dressed in their standard dark tan uniforms, similar in design to their uniforms during the Great War. They wore the dark tan tunic and pants with two pockets placed on the chest area of the tunic. The tunic had simple epaulets as well as brass buttons for it as well. A brown leather belt wrapped around waist, carrying their ammo pouches and other basic gear for the common infantry soldier. They also wore brown leather combat boots as well. A thing for the Russians was that they had several variations on their uniform when it came to their infantry. These variations mainly came in the gear that each soldier chose to wear. These soldiers were various as some wore backpacks while others did not. And their headgear varied from one another as well. Most of their infantry wore the simply infantry side caps that were staple in the Red Army, the Ushanka which is a fur cap with flaps for the ears commonly used by the Russians, or a steel helmet model known as the SSh-40. Each of these three had a Red Star symbol on the front to show their allegiance to the Soviet Union. Though generally that meant very little now.

After the war ended, popular support for the Soviet regime quickly began to plummet in Russia. Hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers had died in a war in which nothing was gained on either side. This, as well as Russia being on the verge of bankruptcy, only added to the already tense situation within the country. Where once the Soviet a union had the support of the common people, their recent blunders have eroded away their support almost completely. Those few that remained loyal to the Bolshevik government were those that took held positions in the government and in Soviet High Command along with a good majority of the Commissars in the Red Army, with just enough soldiers loyal to them that they could maintain their control over the country. But other than that, every aspect of the country had given up on communism and it's supposed promises. Now they were full of anger and have had enough with all the lies quite frankly. With all that pent up anger, they needed something to vent all that anger out at. While most seemed to direct it at the government, it appeared this group of Russians decided to vent it out on someone completely different.

As the two groups met, a Red Army Sergeant, who seemed to be leading the group, eyed Jack with an angry glare evident in his eyes as well as those beside him. He was a man in his mid thirties, and his face was weathered, showing the years of experience he had in the military. He had brown hair and eyes along with a short beard that connected to his mustache. He was wearing a brown Russian coat over his uniform and he also wore a Red Army Ushanka on his head with the flaps strapped to his hat. From the look of his shooting hand, it was bandaged and bloody, and his trigger finger was missing, indicating that it was shot off in a recent battle. With a cold tone in his voice, he stated to Jack in his deep Russian accent "You aren't welcome here Butcher."

"Did he just call you 'Butcher', Jack? What's that all about?" inquired Rosie, turning her head to Jack and raising her eyebrow.

"It's a long story. Let's just say the Russians aren't exactly my biggest fans...in more ways than one," answered Jack, trying to keep his answers straight and not start a riot.

"What are you doing, showing your ugly face here to us again? Wasn't what you did to us in the war enough for you?" demanded the Sergeant, taking a step further towards Jack, and looking like he was getting angrier every few seconds.

Welkin, deciding to come to Jack's aid, came in between the two of them before telling the Sergeant "He's here to help. And just who are you anyway?"

"I am Viktor Reznov. Sergeant of the Red Army. And just who are you supposed to be? Another Gallian capitalist?" spat back Reznov.

"His name is Lieutenant Welkin Gunther, the commander of the Militia's Squad 7. And I would prefer it if you treated our people here with some respect." answered Alicia, saying her bit before Welkin could.

Reznov looks at Welkin, scoffs and continue's with "So this is the man who sent the Fascists packing at Vasel? I was expecting someone of your reputation to be a little...older."

"Yeah well don't let looks fool you. He's tougher than he looks," said Largo, backing up Welkin with his support.

"I do not care if he's the King of England. I don't like you or that American," spat back Reznov.

Scratching his head, Jack simply asked him "If you don't like us then what are you and your boys even doing here? You guys are so out of work that Novogod is sending you to every single war that occurs?"

One of the Russians laughs mockingly at Jack and answers "You think that you're so funny don't you? Well the problem with you Yankee's is that you guys never know just when to shut up if you knew what was good for you."

When he said that, the Russian mob suddenly tightened their fists and began to look as if they were going to start the war all over again right then and there in Fort Drakon. It seemed that tensions were still very high among the Russians and the Americans. As the group braced for what would be an all out brawl, a high pitched whistle broke the tension, and causing everyone to look in the direction that the whistle had come from. Turning their heads, they look to see a buxom, beautiful young woman, about twenty one years of age, approaching them with a clam and careful stride. She has long silver-blonde hair tied up into a ponytail, brown eyes, a small birthmark under her right eye, and luscious ruby-red lips.

Judging from her uniform, it was pretty obvious to see that she was a Russian soldier as well. She had on the standard Russian uniform but she also had her own little touches on it as well. She had on the Russian sniper's shawl that was common for Soviet snipers as an attempt for camouflage and she wore a brown leather satchel alongside a Russian infantry side cap as well. She had her sniper rifle, a Mosin-Nagant 1891 with a telescopic sight slung over her shoulder. The Mosin-Nagant was the Red Army's standard issue rifle issued to their troops. The rifle was a bolt action and housed five 7.62mm bullets. It was cheap to make, reliable, accurate, and when given a telescopic sight it can become one very good sniper rifle. It served as the main Russian weapon since the Great War and has continued to serve them throughout their revolution, civil war, and the war with America. But to this woman, it was merely just a rifle.

The woman walked up to the two groups and eyed Sergeant Reznov. Before she could open her mouth to speak, Reznov spoke first, asking bluntly "What do you want now?"

"Well for one thing Reznov I'm here to stop you from making an ass of yourself," said the young woman.

"You are not in a position to order me around child. You and I are the same rank. That means I'm not inclined to take your orders," pointed out Reznov, not having any of this. He was not looking forward to actually taking orders from this child. Despite her rank, Reznov saw her as little more than a Private, not as a fellow Sergeant. And there was nothing that she would say that would stop him now or ever.

He was soon proved wrong when the girl mentioned "Oh you say that now, but I don't think that the Captain would feel the same about this matter. Perhaps I should tell him that you're now picking fights with everyone in the fort then?"

Now Reznov had a reason to worry. The Captain she was referring to was the one in charge of the Russian units within the International Volunteers Brigade. He was a man that Reznov respected, having served by his side during the Border Skirmishes with Germania and the war against America. His name was Dimitri Petrenko, a Russian soldier who seemed to become the glue that kept the Russian volunteers together. He was also a man who knew when to bring the hammer down on those who brought trouble in their ranks. And Reznov wasn't looking to give his friend any trouble. So with great reluctance and spite, he simply gathered his mob of soldiers and ordered them to leave. With a few angry mumbles, the soldiers simply left, with not a single one staying to try their luck with the Squad.

Once the Russians had left, the woman walked over to Welkin and saluted him, introducing herself "Natasha Romanov, Sergeant of the Red Army at your service Lieutenant."

"Natasha? So that's your name?" inquired Jack, surprised to see yet another familiar face from his past. It appears Gallia is attracting a lot of this lately.

"You know this girl Jack?" asked Isara,

"Not exactly. It's...complicated," explained Jack, choosing his words carefully as he didn't know exactly how to explain this. In fact, this Natasha was something that he didn't exactly tell anyone about.

* * *

_Ten minutes later_

_Fort Drakon's Tavern_

In addition to the Fort's strategic position, it also served as a checkpoint for traders and merchants making their way to and from the capital from this region. As of such, there were a few small business that set up shop inside the fort's walls. Though the war was close to the fort, the business's still were operational, doing all they could to help the fort's defenders any way they can, whether it was by selling goods or helping with duties around the fort. So far, the main business that seemed to prosper was the fort's tavern.

The tavern wasn't a large one but it had a nice and homely feeling to it, helping to boost the spirits of the Gallians and the IVB and reminding them a bit of home before the war. The tavern had a bar, restaurant, and even some rooms for guests to sleep in. Currently, the tavern was serving several different uses for the soldiers of Fort Drakon. One was that they were using whatever food they had to make something for the troops to eat, albeit with a combination of military rations and actual food. The next was that they were using their rooms as a makeshift barracks for some of the soldiers, though the beds there were somewhat more comfortable than those issued by the military. And finally, the tavern's bar served as a place for the soldiers to relax, play some games, drink some good beer or ale, as well as have a few laughs with some fellow soldiers. In more ways than one, this tavern helped to improve the moral of the troops. However, the different nationalities of the IVB were mainly sitting in different sections of the tavern't bar and restaurant all by themselves. One corner was occupied by the Americans and another corner was occupied by the Russians. Only the British and the French sat together, making up two other areas of the tavern.

Natasha brought the group to the tavern and they all gathered by one of the booths while Lara and Lucina went to report to the base's commander before heading to meet up with them. There she and Jack explained how they knew each other...though they didn't exactly know each other quite well. During the Soviet-American War, in early 1933, America took the war to the Soviet's front door. They launched a full-scale offensive across the Bering Strait and right into Russia. By that time, the tide of the war had turned towards the Americans and they were steadily advancing into Russia as the Soviet's tried as best as they can to halt them. It was during this time that the two of them briefly met. After one battle, Jack was alone and on patrol when he found Natasha, lying in the snow. She was cold, hungry, and had a bullet in her leg. Despite the fact that they were both enemies and on opposing sides of the war, and the fact that they were both armed, Jack did something that surprised her: she saved her life. He just handed her a first aid kit and walked away, not saying another word.

"After that day, I wondered if you and I would actually meet again. I never imagine though that we would be on the same side," noted Natasha.

"I guess so. It's a small world after all I suppose," agreed Jack.

"I'm also surprised that you managed to land in Welkin Gunther's unit. Heard what you lot did in Vasel. I'll admit I'm impressed, and that's not something that happens everyday," added Natasha, looking over to Welkin.

"Jack's a good soldier. I trust him with my life," assured Welkin.

"Be careful what you say Welkin. People have a habit of getting killed wherever I go," warned Jack in a joking voice.

"Well any friend of his is a friend of mine," announced Natasha.

Scratching his head, Jack inquired "How exactly am I your friend? You barely even know anything about me."

What he was saying was true. Other than that brief moment that the two of them met upon the battlefield, neither of them knew a thing about the other. In fact, the only way that Natasha would know anything about him was through all the propaganda and lies that the Soviets pumped out there about him being the 'Butcher of Anchorage'. And there was a lot of that kind of propaganda back during the war. Natasha finally answered him by explaining "Hey, you saved my life back there. That makes you my friend whether you like it or not."

"And we all know that he makes friends whether he likes it or not don't we?" commented Lara, as she and Lucina had entered the tavern and met up with the group. Jack looked to Welkin and mouthed out the words to him _"Here the come to wreck the day...again"_. Welkin simply just gave him a hand gesture telling him to just shut the hell up which Jack did immediately. When the two of them arrived Welkin decided to introduce them to Natasha.

"Since you probably know Jack I suppose that you should know them. This is Captain Lara Croft of the British Army and Lucina, the leader of the Archanean Liberation Front. They're...acquaintances of Jack," said Welkin, introducing Natasha to the two women though choosing the word to describe their relation with Jack as carefully as possible. He had enough drama already with Jack's past, he wasn't looking for any more of it right now. But somehow he got a nagging feeling that he was going to get it either way.

"I take it then you're the Russian Jack saved back in the war? He mentioned you when he got back to base that day," questioned Lara, curious if this girl was the one Jack told her about.

"Yup, that's me. Natasha Romanov at your service," answered Natasha, introducing herself to the two.

"Well now that everyone's become good friends I'll just be leaving...looking for a cannon on the battlements large enough to blast myself out of," said Jack, muttering the last part as he walked out of the tavern by himself. He had enough of what just happened today and just wanted a few minutes alone. And what better place to do that than on the battlements of Fort Drakon.

As he left, Lucina looked to Welkin and Faldio, telling them "You guys should head to the Fort's Command Center. They're expecting you there."

"Alright then. Come on Welkin. Time to introduce ourselves to our new bosses," replied Faldio with a nod. He and Welkin then walked off to see the fort's commander with Alicia and Ramal not far behind them. Largo, thinking that it might be time for a drink, invited Rosie and Isara to see if the tavern had anything good to drink which the two of them accepted...though Rosie wished that Isara didn't. As they left, the only people left in the group was Lara, Lucina, and Natasha. With neither of them saying anything, Natasha decided to start one up by asking them "So...what did you two girls do during the war?"

* * *

Fort Drakon's command center was large and very busy at the moment. Men moving in and out, manning the radios, studying the large map in the middle of the room, marking enemy positions and more. Though the Gallians had managed to keep the Germans contained within the Ardennes forest, it still took a lot to keep them in there and prevent them from advancing any farther into southern Gallia. Each of the people in here wondered if they would manage to keep the Germans here for the rest of the war. At least that's what the commander of the IVB thought, if not prayed for it to happen.

The commander of the IVB was a British Officer named Major Edmund Blackadder. He is a man in his late forties, about forty-six to be precise. He had combed brown hair, brown eyes, and a mustache as well. He was wearing a British officer's uniform fit for his rank along with his officer's cap as well. The man was a veteran of the Great War, serving as a Captain on the front lines of the Western Front. After the war he was promoted to the rank of Major and spent the years after the war in charge of the British Army base near Dover. He was contempt to sit there until he was selected to be the commander of the International Volunteers Brigade that would be sent to Gallia to try and support their war effort. So far he and the multi-national troops under his command have done a good enough job so far at fighting them. However, as of now, he had two different tasks that he had to do that were getting rather difficult: finding the missing men from the failed Gassenarl expedition and try to figure out how to attack the German supply bases.

As he was thinking up how to solve this problem, he heard approaching footsteps and looked to see Welkin, Faldio, Alicia, and Ramal entering the command center. He walked over to them and greeted them with "Ah, you must be the people Captain Croft mentioned."

The four of them gave a quick salute before Faldio answered "Yes sir. Lieutenants-"

"Lieutenant Faldio Landzaat, the commander of the 3rd Militia Regiment's Squad 1 along with his second-in-command Sergeant Ramal Valt. And you are Lieutenant Welkin Gunther, the commander of the infamous Squad 7. And you young missy I assume to be Sergeant Alicia Melchiott, Lieutenant Gunther's second-in-command am I correct?" accurately summarized Major Blackadder, interrupting Faldio and doing the introductions himself. His words left the four of them stunned. To them, they assumed that the Major was well informed if he knew their names already. Either that or he was some kind of mind reader.

"How did you know all of that?" asked Welkin, still stunned by what had just happened.

"I was informed by your Captain, Eleanor Varrot, that you would be coming here. Though to be honest, I expected you an hour ago," explained Blackadder, looking at his watch when he mentioned the last part.

"We ran into some trouble sir. The Germans ambushed us when we were on the way here," said Welkin.

"Ah, well then that would explain it as well as the current state of the train. Must have been one hell of a battle," said Blackadder. He then gestured for them to follow him to the table located in the center of the room. They all took positions around the table as they looked to the map before them. The map showed them the entire Ardennes region of Gallia. From the looks of it, the Gallians held about a dozen towns and other positions on the outer edge of the forest, with the Germans controlling the rest. And according to several of the markers on the map, the Germans had several large garrisons at certain areas inside the Ardennes such as in major towns or the forts they have taken. From what they can see, the Germans had turned the forest into an armed fortress.

"I'm not sure what you know about our situation here, but it's somewhere between stable and desperate, We've managed to help the Gallians keep a hold on a handful of towns near the fort. This gives us a good enough foothold to try and stop any further advance. Now we've had some difficulty in trying to find Lieutenant Read and her men. However, we think that they're somewhere near an old outpost just outside of Bastogne," explained Blackadder as he informs them of their current situation. It was somewhat troubling to hear that Mary was somewhere near Bastogne for them. Bastogne was the German's main stronghold in the Ardennes, acting as their base of operations for the Southern Front. If Mary Read was there, then she would have a lot of German troops near her and ready to kill her troops. Her situation would go from dire to desperate really, really quick.

"What about the German supply bases? They still operational?" inquired Faldio.

"Sadly yes they are. And every day they continue to receive and send more supplies to their forces on the Central Front," replied Blackadder, not very pleased with the answer he was giving them.

"If they're still up then why haven't you done anything sir?" asked Faldio, surprised that after the failed expedition by the Gassenarl siblings, he would have thought that the IVB would have at least tried to take it out by themselves, yet here they are, with the base still up and running.

"If taking out those bases was supposed to be easy then we would have done it by now. The Germans have that place more secure than Buckingham Palace. They're making sure that anything that gets near it get's either killed or pushed back. We don't have a good fix on the scope of it's defenses. So if we sent in a strike team they would have no idea what to expect. Until we get more Intel I can't authorize that kind of assault," answered Blackadder, going over the reasons why such an assault would be impossible to commit to under present circumstances.

"Well what can you do?" asked Alicia, hopeful that there _was_ something they could do.

Blackadder summarized to them "My men will try to get an accurate fix on Lieutenant Read and information on the German defenses. Meanwhile I have tasks that need to be performed and missions to carry out. I trust you'll help us then?"

"We'll do what we can sir," answered Welkin honestly.

"Good. For now I want you and your men to rest for tonight and resupply. At dawn I'm sending Squad 7 to Tambor, a town under our control directly at the front lines here. It's currently being held by French and American troops from the IVB. You'll head there and help them reinforce that area of the front before we can send in Gallian troops to finally hold it," informed Blackadder.

"Alright, we can do that," responded Welkin.

"Very good then. Hopefully we'll have Lieutenant Read's location as well as the German defenses. The sooner we can put those bases out of commission, the less pressure the capital will be on," admitted Blackadder "Until then I suggest you all get some much needed rest for tomorrow."

* * *

_Later at Randgriz_

_An Hour after Nightfall_

As the Gallians slept in their capital, the next phase of Lelouch's plan was coming into effect. With the cover of nightfall, small boats began rowing to the walled shore of Randgriz loaded with heavily armed German Panzer Grenadiers. They slowly rowed across the river, moving as quietly as possible as to not alert the enemy. With Lelouch's forces assembling in the forest, he had a team of a thirty Panzer Grenadiers row over to Randgriz, moving underneath one of the Graz Bridges so that they would not be picked seen by Gallian troops guarding the entrances to the city as well as those stationed upon the walls of the city. These troops were each specifically picked for this mission based on their abilities, skills, and past experience. They were instructed to cross Lake Graz and meet up with Lelouch's agent who would get them into the city...though some of them wondered how that was possible.

The cities modern foundation was built directly on the shoreline with the lake, and the wall was built directly on the outer edge of that foundation as it surrounded the city. The only way in was over the wall or through the gates from one of the Graz Bridges. And either way would end up showing as a big target for the local Gallian troops. Hopefully whatever Lelouch's spy had cooked up, it had better be a good plan. They rowed under the middle Graz Bridge and as they came at the end they saw some kind of small dock built directly next to the wall and standing at that dock, was Lelouch's spy whom the recognized by her lime-green hair. And as the first wave of Panzer Grenadiers, excluding those who rowed the boats over, docked the boats and exited them, the German Lieutenant in charge noticed that the woman had on the uniform of a Randgriz Royal Guard.

"What's with the getup?" asked the German Lieutenant.

"I managed to make my way into the Castle. Every important decision is being made in there. Makes my job a lot easier for what'll happen next," explained C.C.

"We know what our mission is. What we want to know is what the hell are we supposed to even get inside the city without being spotted by Bluecoats?" inquired the German Lieutenant, cutting to the chase.

She walked over to the stone wall and from what looked like a solid stone wall, she ended up pushing one of the stones in the wall which popped out, surprising the German troops. C.C. twisted the stone around as if it was a lever and suddenly a series of strange mechanical noises could be heard coming from behind the stone wall. The next thing surprised the Germans the most. Part of the wall, wide enough to fit two people and as tall as the average person, suddenly began to back up and once it was a few inches into the wall it moved to the left, revealing a secret passage within the stone wall itself. The Lieutenant was utterly speechless as well as his troops as they stared in awe as to what they were seeing. They were wondering to themselves just how on earth the spy managed to know this.

"When Randgriz was built before the Calamity, it's builders constructed an elaborate system of catacombs. It was used to help protect the citizens in case of a siege or in the event of evacuating the Royal Family. Though mostly forgotten, there are still record of their existence. This particular catacomb runs directly underneath the castle. All you need to do is wait inside until you're called for," explained C.C. handing the Lieutenant the map of the catacombs and the soldiers some Ragnite lanterns. The Germans, not deciding to ask how she found this out, simply took the items she gave them and proceeded to enter the catacombs and wait at the spot that she had designated upon her map. As the soldiers went into the catacombs, C.C. handed a folded piece of paper to one of the soldiers who brought them here.

"What's this?" asked the soldier.

"Something for the Prince. Something that will make his job a whole lot easier," she said with a smile.

* * *

**The plot continues to thicken. What will Squad 7 find in the Ardennes? What role do these Panzer Grenadiers play in Lelouch's plans? And what is this document C.C. has handed the soldier? All will be revealed in due time my friends, all in due time.**

**First off, this character, Natasha Romanov, is actually an OC of my good friend RedRat8 in his story 'The Minutemen of RWBY'. He has graciously allowed me to use this character along with another one named Daniel Marks who will appear in a later chapter. Look up his story and read it for it is an interesting story to read.**

**Another thing is the Major Blackadder is from the British BBC series Blackadder Goes Forth. He's pretty much the same character, with a few small changes such as the fact that he's a Major instead of a Captain like he is in the TV series.**

**Up next will be another few of those support conversations. The good news is that there will not be as many as there was last time. Most likely just a few.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	73. Jane and Hannes II

**Sorry about the fact that this is a short one. These support conversations aren't very long anyway...not to mention that Jane and Hannes are a little hard to do. Anyway, enjoy the story.**

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_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

As Squad 7 was settling in at their quarters that have been loaned to them by the IVB. There they would rest before in the morning set off to help the French and American troops hold the town of Tambor. They had no idea what they would expect so they also restocked their ammunition and armed themselves with whatever weapon they could grab, even a few used by the IVB. In the barracks, Hannes was doing a final check on the weapon he was taking with him: a M1A1 Thompson sub-machine gun. He had heard of it's power and reputation from stories he heard from visiting merchants who did business in America and the sort. Now he was going to be able to use it against the krauts. Hopefully it's killing power is all that it's cracked up to be. As he was finished with the gun, he spotted Jane entering the barracks and heading in his direction. Hannes rolled his eyes as he knew what this was all about.

"My final count back at the scrapyard is thirty-two. Thirty-two dead Nazis. Beat that Hannes," gloated Jane as she reveled in her words. She had that smug look on one's face that one had when they felt that they had won and bested everyone else.

"Thirty two huh? Well that's not bad for a Nazi killing pyscho. However, I'm sitting pretty on _thirty-three_ kills Lady Jane," commented Hannes, delivering the blow to Jane's confidence. Almost immediately, the wicked smile on Jane's face simply disappeared with a mixed look of disbelief and pure frustration. Hannes had beaten her. He beat her by killing one German. One more stinking Nazi more than she did. She just couldn't believe it. She kept wondering to herself how it was possible that Hannes had managed to beat her in this bet. The mere thought of this was creating anger that was swelling in her. It just kept building and building within her until she couldn't take it anymore. She gave out a yell in frustration and punched the nearby stone wall as hard as she could, not even feeling the pain from the hit as she was so angry that she simply didn't care.

Hannes simply out away the Thompson and calmly said to Jane "You owe me fifty Ducats now."

"I just don't get it! How could I have lost?! I can take on the whole German Army and I'd still come out on top!" cried Jane as she tried to contemplate what had just happened. She considered herself the best Nazi killer in whole squad. Though it was mainly her that even bothered to consider herself that, there was some truth to the matter. Out of the whole squad, she was the one who hated the Nazis the most, mainly for destroying her store and nearly killing her back in Bruhl. She swore that she would send as many Nazis to the grave as she could and to make herself into the soldier that would be the best in killing Nazis. She just couldn't accept that Hannes could have possibly beaten her. It just didn't seem possible to her. Though perhaps it wasn't all for nothing. He had only beaten her by one after all. She was still able to take back her pride in the next big battle that the squad would take place in. That one big battle where she can make her mark.

"You only lost by one. At least you made the bet with me instead of the Yankee. He managed to kill fifty of the bastards," noted Hannes.

"WHAT?!" screamed Jane as she turned to face Hannes, her face now red from her anger that had finally reached it's boiling point. It was one thing to be beaten in a kill count by another Gallian, it was a whole other thing to be beaten by the American. Now she had a good reason to be pissed off. She wasn't going to let no one, let it be her squad members, the IVB, or anyone stack up more Nazi kills than her. She was going to prove that once and for all that she was the best one among them at killing Nazis if it was the last thing she ever did in this life. She would wait until the next big battle and then show them. Not at some small skirmish or mission, but at a big battle with thousands of soldiers fighting each other. That's where she would show them who's boss.

Mumbling in an angry tone to herself, she stomped out of the barracks without saying a word to anyone. And as she left, Hannes pretty much figured out that he probably wasn't going to be seeing that fifty Ducats anytime soon.

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**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	74. Juno and Aisha II

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

On the other end of the barracks, Juno was chastising Aisha for nearly getting herself killed back at the scrapyard. Though she was glad that Aisha's distraction was enough to keep the German soldier distracted long enough for Juno to kill him, she wasn't all too thrilled that Aisha had nearly gotten herself killed in the process. Welkin told that when she began to look out for Aisha, that made her responsible for her well being. And Juno took that responsibility very seriously. So it was easy for one to understand just how upset and worried that she was over what Aisha did.

"What were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed back there!" criticized Juno as she looked down at Aisha who just stood before her.

"But I didn't," pointed out Aisha.

"Yes I know that, but-" continued Juno but before she could finish her sentence, Aisha interrupted her.

"So isn't that a good thing? I mean, we won the fight and the bad guys are dead. So, shouldn't you be happy?" inquired Aisha. Juno pinched her brow as she tried to contain her frustration at the twelve year old before her. She had to remind herself that Aisha was still very young and she didn't see everything in the same light as the rest of Squad 7 did. She didn't fully understand the fact that she could get really hurt if not killed in this war. Her idea of war was pretty much like every other kids with them thinking it was simply between the good guys and the bad guys and that the good guys will eventually win in the end. Juno had to figure out a way to explain this all in a way that she was capable of understanding.

Taking a deep breath, Juno got down to eye level with Aisha and told her "Aisha...this isn't like comic books or those stories you heard when you were younger. A lot of people are putting their faith in us, the Militia, and the Army to win this war. And there's a really big chance that you can get killed in the fight. You don't get second chances to fix mistakes in war. You need to be careful and stick behind us if you want to come home. And that means you need to do what I'm asking you to do. Do you understand me?"

"I understand," said Aisha sadly as she lowered her head. Even though Aisha understood what she was saying, she wasn't very happy about it. Even though she was in the Militia, people still treated and regarded her as just some kid playing at war. She just wanted to prove that she could be helpful despite her young age, yet at every step of the road people didn't seem to pay attention to that. It just felt like nothing that she did was ever going to help them noticed that.

So with a heavy heart, she simply climbed up onto the top bunk of the bunk bed that she and Juno were sharing and simply went off to sleep. Juno had to admit that she didn't like the idea of hurting Aisha like this. But she just wanted to make sure that she came out of this safely. No one ever gets a second chance in wars. And she had parents waiting for her. No doubt they would be worried sick about the fact that their twelve year old daughter was out and fighting a war against the most powerful military force in Europa.

But Juni couldn't help it. Aisha was like a little sister, the one that Juno always wanted. Granted, this was more work having a little sister than she originally imagined. But somehow this felt rather worthwhile. Whatever came their way in this war, be it German troops, tanks, or Stukas for that matter, Juno planned on keeping Aisha safe, no matter what. And as she climbed into her bed and drifted off to sleep, she smiled to herself knowing that Aisha was safe for now.

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**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	75. Kries and Leon II

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

In the tank depot just outside of the fortress and right next to the airfield, Kreis and Leon were with Isara as they helped her with maintenance on the _Edelweiss_. They were mainly making sure that everything was in working order and that the tank was stocked with enough ammunition for their mission tomorrow. So far, the _Edelweiss_ had served Squad 7 admirably in the battle to retake Vasel for the Germans. But it would face it's next big test once they entered the Ardennes forest proper. The forest's limited the Edelweiss to simply moving along the main and side roads as traveling through the forest itself would prove very difficult for a vehicle of it's size and weight. This made the tank a pretty big target this way as the Germans could easily ambush them as they traveled into the Ardennes. All they would need to do is block the road with a fallen tree, take up positions on both sides, and then fire away with everything they had at them. The Germans used this to great effect as they marched through the Ardennes, catching many Militia and Regular convoys off guard and utterly wiping them out. So when they go into the Ardennes, it would be best to ere on the side of caution.

As they were working on the Edelweiss, they heard the sound of footsteps heading towards them. They looked to see Jack with the Darcsen who served as the Conductor's assistant from the train that had brought them to Fort Drakon. They stopped what they were doing for a moment and looked his way before Isara popped out of the _Edelweiss_ and greeted him with "Hey Jack. What brings you here?"

"I thought you guys might need some help so I brought her," explained Jack, pointing to the Darcsen girl.

"You know I do have a name right?" asked the girl.

"Well just what is your name?" inquired Kries sincerely.

"My name's Arianna, thanks for asking. I'm pretty good with machines and anything I can get my hands on so I thought I'd be of some use," replied Arianna honestly.

Jack chuckled a bit before adding "That's not all she's good with. I heard that she manned the machine gun on the train during the fight back at the scrapyard. She mowed down a whole lot of Nazis all by herself."

"I'm surprised the Regulars managed to let you fire the thing," quoted Leon. He was right in a sense. The Regulars were pretty much a segregated army, with the upper echelons making sure that no Darcsens or foreigners would be allowed to enlist. If someone from those two groups were going to fight for Gallia, the only way for them was to fight in the Militia, which didn't exactly improve their standing with High Command. It's been like that since Gallia was first established so long ago. This policy has in turn helped to create a large rift between the two main forces in the Gallian Army that exists to this day.

"I took classes back in school. I never really fired a machine gun but I managed to figure it out," clarified Arianna.

"You managed to figure out how to fire a machine gun, with no experience whatsoever, and all during the time he Germans were coming at us guns blazing?" questioned Jack, raising an eyebrow. He found it hard to believe that she managed to figure it out like that so easily during the thick of battle. Most recruits simply fumble and panic under the pressure. Hearing this from her was both surprising and sudden.

Arianna merely nodded back and answered with "Yup. I've always been good with machines. I even took a tank course offered by the military."

Now Jack was even more surprised. On one hand, this girl was one good mechanic, though not on the same level as Isara is. On the other hand, she was clearly adept at handling various kinds of weapons. and on top of all that, she took an armored vehicle course which most likely meant that she knew how to drive, operate, and possibly command a tank. That's a triple threat by military standards. This gave Jack an idea. The girl could be useful if she transferred to the Militia. And since they were heading into the Ardennes, and towards the front lines again, they would probably need all the help that they could find. And as Jack left the hanger, he now had a pretty good idea on what he was going to talk to Welkin about when he got back to the barracks. By tomorrow, Squad 7 may just have another recruit to add to their ranks.

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**As you can probably tell, Arianna here is going to become a new part of Squad 7 when this story get's back on track. She comes out with a new toy for the fight as well.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	76. Tambor

**Just a side note, I've changed one of the first names of Jack's siblings because one of the new characters has a similar first name.**

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_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_April 22, 1935_

_Fort Drakon_

_0545 hours (5:45 am)_

Before the sun began to rise over the horizon, Squad 7 was outside the main gates of Fort Drakon as they prepared to set out. They managed to resupply and rearm themselves, replacing what they'd lost back at the scrapyard. They were now armed with a mixture of Gallian, American, and captured German weaponry from the captured stocks within the fort. Soon they would be heading off for the Gallian town of Tambor, sitting right at the front lines of the Ardennes. All that Welkin told his troops about the mission was that the French and American members of the IVB were holding the town and they haven't reported in for a while. Since Squad 7 was available, they were being sent to check on the town. Other than that, there really wasn't much else that the IVB told Welkin.

Another thing that has been refit was the _Edelweiss_ itself. Isara had removed the armored skirts as well as the reinforced armor on the barrel as well. The only upgrade she kept was the M2 Browning heavy machine gun on the turret but she also managed to add some more power to the engine, making the _Edelweiss_ go even faster. Now it's top speed was at almost seventy miles an hour, making this the fastest tank in Gallia. Though the removal of the additional armor was a bit of a risk, Isara was confident that the current armor of the _Edelweiss_ was sufficient enough for the fighting in the Ardennes. In that forest, speed and maneuverability meant more than protection. So Isara took them off so that the _Edelweiss_ could be allowed to move around more freely. In Isara's opinion, she liked the _Edelweiss_ better that way.

Faldio had come by to tell Welkin 'good luck' on the mission and managed to catch up to Welkin who was about to enter the _Edelweiss_. After Welkin told him as much as he could about what else he found out about the mission, particularly the part where it would be in a densely wooded area in the Ardennes, Faldio responded with "Woodland combat. That's going to be a nightmare."

"What do you mean?" asked Welkin.

"The woods dull your sense of direction, and poor roads make for slow advances. Add the fact that the Germans use camouflage and it makes this place the one area in Gallia where they hold the advantage. This'll be the toughest operation to date," explained Faldio.

Welkin tried to find a bright spot in this by pointing out "Maybe so, but deeper into the woods you have a better chance of spotting some rare foliage. There's one kind of insectivorous plant in the Ardennes called a moondew that can suck a-"

Faldio cut him off when he pinched his brow and said "All right, I get it! You really do have a one-track mind, you know that?"

"I'm saying that nature isn't just a burden. We might find a let to victory in the woods," pointed out Welkin.

Faldio simply sighed before saying "All right. I'll keep a lookout for your key while I'm slogging it. Hopefully your plant won't have eaten it."

"You're coming with us?" inquired Welkin, wondering if by what Faldio said meant that he was going to come to Tambor with them.

Faldio shook his head before replying with "No. Major Blackadder's sending my men to another part of the front. Hopefully he'll have Mary's location soon. And if he has the information on the supply base defenses as well. The thought of taking out the Black Prince is the only thing good coming out of this."

Jack, walking up to the two of them, overheard Faldio's comment, looked to him and asked "You're really looking forward to taking on Lelouch aren't you? You sure you don't have a death wish or something?"

"Taking down the Black Prince could end the war and ensure Gallia's safety. If he's there, then whatever German unit we have to fight through to get there is worth it," said Faldio, before leaving to head back into Fort Drakon. As Jack and Welkin watched Faldio walk back inside, Jack thought to himself _'He's either very brave, or very foolish. My guess is both'_. Both of them had always noted how much of a patriot Faldio was when it came to Gallia's freedom. He was always like that. Behind his little playboy persona in college he was a genuine Gallian and was as much a patriot as they come now these days. But it was going to take a lot more than pure patriotism to take on Lelouch vi Britannia. The man was always one step ahead of his opponent in a battle and if the Gallians were going to take put that base...they were going to need one really clever plan.

However, that would have to wait, as Squad 7 had more pressing matters to attend to at the moment, starting with gathering up their troops to board the trucks so they can head off to Tambor. Giving a good whistle, he signaled for all of them to gather around which they did. When the whole Squad was gathered together, Welkin decided to let them in on a little surprise he was keeping from them, with only him, Isara, Jack, Alicia (who,e he told later), along with Leon and Kries.

"Okay well before we officially head off, I think I should tell you this: We're receiving a new recruit for Squad 7," announced Welkin.

"Another one? Just who is this person?" asked Largo, wondering where this was going just as the sound of a tank engine rumbling began to be heard.

"That would be her," answered Alicia, pointing to the entrance to Fort Drakon. Coming out of the main gates of Fort Drakon, came out a Soviet BT-5 light cavalry tank. It was one of the mainstays of the Soviet's in terms of light tanks which Jack could verify since he had seen lots of them during the war against the Soviets. It was primarily designed to be placed within Cavalry divisions in the Soviet military, so they would have tanks as well as horsemen. The tank had been painted in Gallian colors, most likely during the night, with the camouflage similar to that of a Darcsen pattern. The sides of the tank had the emblem of Squad 7 painted on it as an added touch. The tank was armed with a 45mm cannon as well as a coaxial machine gun, and a mounted machine gun where the turret hatch is for added firepower. The tank had a top speed of forty-five miles per hour, making it an agile tank. However the tank was lightly armored, with it having only an inch of armor, the same as the Gallian Light Tank, so it was best to have to work against infantry instead of the Panzer tanks of the _Wehrmacht_. The tank was designed to be operated by three people: a driver, a gunner/loader, and a commander.

And as the tank parked right in front of the squad, the turret hatch opened to reveal Arianna in her train conductor overalls, Darcsen cloth tied around her neck, and wearing a stolen German cap she took from the captured stocks of the fort, with her having the swastika removed. She then replaced it with the Gallian Royal emblem and had the Squad 7 patch stitched to her overalls, signifying her allegiance. As the Squad looked on at her, Arianna looked to Welkin, gave him a salute, and acknowledged "Corporal Arianna of the Militia's Seventh Platoon at your service Lieutenant Gunther."

"I see you managed to bring up our new toy as well," commented Jack, glad that this time he and that tank were on the same side for once.

"Ain't she a beauty? I named her the _Shamrock_," noted Arianna, petting the tank.

"Everyone, this is Arianna, she's the newest addition our unit. She'll be commanding the _Shamrock_ from here on out," announced Welkin.

"My ride's not that tough against tanks, but I'll be able to help out when it comes to infantry support," said Arianna.

"Wait, just who's driving that thing?" asked Largo, with that thought coming to mind. There had to be others working on that tank. Arianna couldn't be operating this thing on her own s here had to be two others working on it. The question was just who they were. His question was answered when lifting the forward visor hatch, revealing the face of Kreis Czherny as the driver. Largo quickly figured out that if he was the one that was driving the tank, then Leon Schmidt was definitely the one who was manning the guns.

"Well then, now that we're all on the same page here, shouldn't we be on the move now?" suggested Alicia, bringing them all back to the task at hand. Welkin nodded in agreement and dismissed everyone to board their trucks. As Alicia, Largo, Rosie, and Jack climbed onto the _Edelweiss_, they saw Lara, wearing her gear and her Great War infantry cap and armed with a Lee-Enfield Mk.4 bolt action rifle, walking up to the tank.

"Hold on a minute. I'm coming with you guys," said Lara, as she slung her rifle over her shoulder and took a seat next to Jack.

"Why Lara am I growing on you?" asked Jack in a mock caring tone.

"Like fungus," shot back Lara, which wiped the smile off Jack's face and caused Rosie, Largo, and Alicia to chuckle at that.

Jack however, noticed that one side of her face was redder than the other, indicating that she was hot sometime recently. Out of curiosity, he asked sincerely "What happened to you?"

"First, let me tell you that I didn't deserve this. I told Natasha that you and I used to be engaged. When I told her that I broke it off she slapped me across my face," said an irritated Lara as she looked to Jack.

"Huh. I'll admit that she's actually starting to warm up to me," commented Jack as he thought about how he probably wished he saw that. In response to that, Lara punched him in the chest, causing Jack to shut up. He then clenched his chest and wheezed out in pain as he decided to drop the topic.

Once everyone loaded up, they set off to Tambor. The _Edelweiss_ led the pack followed by the trucks, with the _Shamrock_ taking position at the back as a rear guard unit. And as the sun began shining above the horizon, Blackadder, who watched them leave Fort Drakon from atop the ramparts. He gave them a salute before saying "Good luck lads."

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_An hour later_

_0702 hours (7:02 am)_

Squad 7 moved slowly and cautiously through the Ardennes, driving down the narrow and winding roads that cut through the thick forest. And as they moved forward, they came across the wrecks of several Gallian convoys that had become victims of an ambush by German troops. There were wrecks of trucks, jeeps, and even a few Gallian Light Tanks. As a result of seeing them, each member of the Squad scanned the forest on both sides for any sign of German troops moving through the the trees. Even though they were still in friendly territory, it still paid to be cautious. The Germans could have sent a team of soldiers to slip past the Gallian defenses and have them hit any convoy that they would come across and eliminate them with extreme prejudice. The Squad would have to be on their toes in order to prevent themselves from becoming like them.

As they moved forward, Jack, with his M1897 Trench gun in hand, noted "This reminds me of Alaska. The Soviets always set up ambushes along the roads as they retreated back to Russia."

"Ah, you're just being paranoid," said Rosie, not even looking worried.

"I agree with Jack. This is too quiet, even for me," added Lara, readying her rifle.

Alicia, looked to Welkin was standing through the opened turret hatch and asked "How much farther till we get to Tambor?"

"Shouldn't be far. We should be there any minute now," answered Welkin, after checking his map. They were only a few hundred yards away from the outskirts of the town. And true to his word, after a few more minutes they eventually come upon the outskirts of Tambor...what was left of it anyway. Halting the convoy, Welkin and the others could see that the town was in ruins, with many of the buildings damaged from the fighting. Seeing the flags of France and America flying from two improvised flagpoles helped show that the town was still under IVB control. Hopefully things would be easy from here on out. However, when they arrived, they didn't see any French or American troops, in fact, there wasn't anyone in sight. This was causing some concern. There should be at least a few soldiers by the main road into the town so that they could maintain a hold on it. Something was definitely off here.

Unbeknownst to the squad, from one of the windows on the second floor window on the convoy's right, the muzzle of a Kar98k rifle was peeking out and it's wielder was setting his sights on Welkin. After a few seconds of aiming, he fired. However, the shot missed, bouncing off the hull just a few inches from Welkin. The ricochet caused everyone to jump from the surprise and spring into action. Welkin climbed down into the turret of the _Edelweiss_ while Alicia, Largo, Rosie, Lara, and Jack hopped off and crouched alongside the tank.

"Where the hell did that come from?!" exclaimed Lara, still in shock.

"Over there! In the window!" shouted Alicia, quickly spotting the rifle protruding from the window. The unseen soldier quickly fire off another shot, bouncing off the Edelweiss's hull but nearly hitting Largo in the head. And almost immediately after that, they heard someone in the town shout at the top of their lungs in German _'Gallian truppen!'_. After that, it was evidently clear as to why the IVB troops in the town hadn't reported in. It looks like the Germans managed to take the town from the IVB soldiers that were supposed to be defending it. The Germans then kept their flags as a kind of false-flag operation to lure their opponents into a false sense of security which would allow them to eliminate any Gallian or IVB force that entered the town. It was pretty clear now what they had to do: They had to retake the town...and fast.

"Everyone! Get of the trucks! now!" shouted Welkin, peeking his head out of the turret hatch. The Squad did as he ordered, piling out of the trucks, weapons drawn and taking up positions behind Alicia, Rosie, Largo, Jack, and Lara, crouching behind them or behind the _Edelweiss_. Arianna moved the Shamrock around the trucks and moved in behind the Squad on their left in order to provide any kind of support that she could. It had now been a while since the German rifleman took a potshot at them, and there was no sign of any other German troops. Suddenly, coming out of the window of small store on the bottom of the building on the left side was a shot from a German Pak-40 anti-tank cannon. The shot hit the front armor of the Edelweiss and merely bounced off.

Identifying the new threat, Welkin quickly traversed the turret and aimed the main gun at the store housing the cannon. The German crew frantically tried to reload and fire again before the _Edelweiss_ did so that they can keep themselves alive. However, they just weren't fast enough. The moment that they managed to reload the gun, Welkin fired a high explosive shell from the main cannon of the _Edelweiss_. It hit dead center on it's target, destroying the gun, the crew, and the store in a fiery explosion. With the immediate danger now over, Welkin popped back out of the turret hatch to relay his orders. Looking to Alicia, he ordered "Alright here's what we'll do. We're going in and heading for the command center in town. According to Major Blackadder, the IVB troops they sent here set it up in an abandoned cafe."

"The Germans will have likely set up positions in the town to keep us from getting there. We should clear them out as well," suggested Alicia, knowing that the Germans wouldn't just let them enter without a fight.

Nodding his head in acknowledgement, Welkin ordered "Everyone listen up! We're clearing this town of German troops! Squad 7, move out!"

The _Edelweiss_ lead the pack, moving slowly to check for ambushes followed directly by the _Shamrock_ with Arianna, standing through the turret hatch, manning the .30 caliber machine gun mounted near the turret hatch. The Squad members flanked the two tanks and their rear. They would deal with any infantry hiding in the buildings on either side of the road. They slowly moved into the town, weapons at the ready, and eyes scanning the windows, corners, and opened doors for any sign of German troops. The hardest part about urban warfare is that it gave the defenders more areas to hid and shoot from. Which meant that every step Squad 7 took into the city had to be careful and not rushed so they wouldn't get killed in the crossfire.

For a while, they advanced forward but didn't see anything. That is until they approached a crossroads and an MG42 opened fire on them from the second floor building on the left side of the crossroads, pinning the squad and having them hide behind the buildings and the _Edelweiss_ for cover. And as this happened, a small squad of German troops moved up the street in front of them and began to open fire on the Gallians. The Germans took cover behind the small stone steps in front of the doors as well as behind some of the uneven walls which offered them some protection. Squad 7 did the same and began to return fire. The Germans however continued to advance forward, covering each other as they advanced. Lara was the first one to take one out, shooting a German rifleman dead in the chest as he moved out of cover.

"Nice shot lady!" complimented Vyse, whom was right behind Lara and Jack.

"That's 'Captain Croft' to you," corrected Lara as she reloaded her Lee-Enfield rifle.

"Less talking, more Nazi killing!" noted Jack firing his Colt 1911's at the Germans since his Trench Gun was useless at close range.

Eventually, the Squad managed to thin down the Germans ranks down to four. But these four were really stubborn, and they weren't moving an inch from their positions. They just kept shooting at the Gallians with whatever they had left. And not to mention that there was still that MG42 that was keeping them from going any further. So now they needed to deal with two separate problems if they were going to move any further. Welkin, managed to come up with one. Looking to Alicia, he said "Alicia! You and Jack get into the building and take out the machine gun crew!"

"Right, we're on it," complied Alicia as she moved to the corner with Jack right behind her. They stayed behind the corner as they waited for the MG42 to reload. For a gun that shot out over 1500 bullets a minute, it had to reload quite often. And once the buzzing sound of the machine gun stopped, the two of them raced across the street and quickly entered the building. The two of them slowly made their way up the stairs, making sure that they were moving up as quietly as possible in order to take the machine gun crew by surprise. The two of them soon noticed a guard with an MP-40 in the room that was providing the two men manning the machine gun with some security. All three of them had their backs turned to Jack and Alicia, giving the two of them the element of surprise.

Without even hesitating, Jack aimed his trench gun at the lone German guard and fire, killing the German with a shot to the head. Before the two machine gunners could react, Alicia fired three shots at them with her Gallian-M4, killing both of them and silencing the MG42.

With the machine gun now taken out, the Squad turned their attention back to the Germans. Now free to move, Squad 7 took several positions and opened fire on them, pinning the Germans down in a hail of of the Germans, realizing that this was hopeless, managed to turn tail and run, heading out of town and back to German lines. The remaining three German troops managed to put up one last desperate stand before they were cut to pieces and died where they stood.

Welkin, seeing this, decided that now it was time to move on. Just as he was about to give the order, he heard Alicia yell from the window "Welkin! Jack found a path through the alley! It leads straight to the cafe! We may need some help when we get there!"

Thinking fast on his feet, Welkin said "Largo, take Rosie and Lara over there and help them out. The rest of us will take the long way to the cafe. We'll meet you there."

"On it," replied Largo as he, Rosie, and Lara entered the building and linked up with Alicia and Jack. Meanwhile, Isara moved the _Edelweiss_ forward, and the rest of Squad 7 moved out right behind him.

* * *

In the alley way, the five of them quickly and quietly moved through the alley as they made their way to the cafe. For added firepower, Jack had taken the MG42 and it's bipod along with the MP-40 and the ammunition for the both of them. He gave Largo the MP-40 and Jack kept the MG42. After a few minutes of walking, they eventually came upon the cafe. The windows were all boarded up so they couldn't see inside unfortunately. However they could hear what was going on inside. Apparently it sounded like some kind of interrogation.

"I will ask you again, and _only_ once you French swine. Did you call for reinforcements?" demanded a man with a German accent.

"And I will say it again, we didn't have time to call for reinforcements. We've been your prisoners since last night," responded a male individual who didn't sound very French, despite what the German said.

"Don't lie to me here! My men are reporting an entire platoon of Gallian militiamen outside with two tanks. They are getting massacred out there!" shouted the German, sounding pretty angry. The group had to do something or otherwise everyone there would end up getting killed. Alicia and Lara moved towards the door, while Largo, Rosie, and Jack took a few steps back, faced the window, and readied their weapons. Peeking through the opened door frame, Lara could see that there was a total of twelve prisoners: six of them French and the other six being Americans. The Germans must have taken them prisoner in order to interrogate them about any nearby enemy positions. The prisoners were all on their knees and with their hands tied behind their backs. There were four German soldiers in the room wearing forest camouflage, all of them armed with Gewehr 43 rifles, and there was a German officer there armed with the Luger and was the one interrogating the prisoners...and the one getting fed up with their answers.

"I'm telling you the truth. We didn't call for reinforcements. Perhaps they came here from hearing your loud voice," suggested the man, seeming to be the one in charge of the French soldiers.

"And I'm telling you that I don't like your tone. Maybe it's time for us to deal with some loose ends?" said the officer, staring at the French officer and aiming his Luger at him. Now it was time for them to do something, as the rest of the German soldiers began taking aim at the prisoners with the weapons, intent on killing them here and now. Acting on instinct, Lara quickly took aim and fired her rifle, hitting German officer square in the neck, killing him instantly. The other four German soldiers immediately opened fire on Lara, who managed to duck behind cover as the four Germans focused all their attention on them. The gunshots caused the prisoners to duck to the ground, lying as flat as they can to try and avoid the bullets that may eventually come from the other side.

Seeing the gunshots as an opportunity, Largo, Jack, and Rosie, opened fire with their weapons, spraying the cafe with their weapons. It was like a scene from a mob hit. The three of them peppered the cafe with bullets, blasting apart anything they hit, including the German soldiers who were unfortunate enough to get caught up in the hailstorm of bullets before collapsing onto the ground. Soon the three of them ran out of bullets in their magazines and reloaded, with the exception of Jack who just dropped the MG42 and pulled out his Trench Gun instead.

Once the fighting was over, Alicia, Rosie, and Largo entered the cafe...what was left of it at least, and went about to freeing the hostages. Jack and Lara entered last, with Jack commenting "Wow. This place looks like my old hangout spot in New York...at least after the Mafia blasted it to pieces."

"Why do I have the feeling that a lot of places you used to go to end up like this?" questioned Lara, feeling like she already knew the answer to this question.

"Cap? LT? Guys is that you?" asked one of the American soldiers, looking at them and recognizing his old friends. This American was about twenty-one years old, was about five feet eleven inches high, just a few inches shorter than Jack. He was Caucasian but his skin was tanned a bit from being out in the sun for too long. Like Jack he had blue eyes and short black hair but his was in a military cut. He had three scars running across his nose caused from some kind of claw one would guess. He seemed like a thin man but he ultimately had a muscular build over his standard uniform. He pretty much wore the standard U.S. military uniform and wore the same haversack that Jack had as well. He wore a bandoleer over his chest with spare ammo strapped to it. He had his M1 helmet on with a small picture of a six eyed creature he had dubbed _"Chimera"_ written above it.

"Daniel!" exclaimed Lara and Jack at the same time, glad to see their old friend again. Lara walked over to him and gave him a tight hug while Jack gave him one after she was done. Back in the Soviet-American War, Daniel Marks was in the same squad as Jack and Lara. Daniel was another one of the survivors of the Siege of Anchorage, same as them. They served together throughout the whole war, eventually going their separate ways after the Russian's surrendered and the war was over. Seeing Daniel again, and in Gallia no less, was a welcome sight.

"It's good to see you again Captain," said a grateful Daniel as he looked at Jack.

"It's Sergeant now Daniel. She's the Captain now," corrected Jack, pointing to Lara.

"Hey, I managed to make Sergeant too. Cheer up mate, cause to me, you're still the Captain boss," commented Daniel.

"And by my standards, perhaps he's also the same kind of jackass as well," commented the other American officer. Her name was Lieutenant Samus Aran, a twenty-one year old officer who used to have a one sided rivalry with Jack back during the war. She was about Jack's height, and had a slender and narrow figure. Her long blonde hair was tied up in a high ponytail with a red band with just two locks on either side of her face. She had her bangs swept to one side with one lock dangling over her nose. Finally here eyes were blue, but with a tinge of green as well and there was a small beauty mark under the left side of her lip. Her uniform was the standard of a front line Lieutenant. It was the same as a regular American soldier, except all she seemed to carry in terms of weaponry was that of a holstered Colt 1911 attached to her belt. She didn't wear a helmet, opting to travel without it instead.

"Yeah, yeah. It's good to see you Samus," complimented Lara.

"Likewise Croft," replied Samus as she massaged her wrists from where she had been bound.

"Croft? As in Lara Croft?" asked the female French officer. She was Jack's age, yet shorter than him. She had green eyes and her shining blonde hair was tied into a bun on the back of her head with a little blue bow tied there. Her bangs danged over her forehead with two locks dangling on either side of her head. She wore the usual brown French officer's uniform with a kepi, a French military cap on her head. Her belt buckle and boots were shined to perfection, and her epaulets showed that she had reached the rank of Lieutenant. Attached to her belt was a French fencing saber with a sharpened edge, and a holstered Modele 1892 revolver, France's standard firearm from the Great War, tucked inside and loaded with six 8mm rounds.

"Saber? You're in Gallia too?" asked Jack, not believing his luck as another person of his past is in Gallia.

"Do you know every broad in Europa kid?" questioned Rosie. She couldn't believe how many girls this kid knew. And the fact that they keep showing up was getting a little annoying.

"Well I was quite a Casanova when I was younger so...possibly," answered Jack in his usual nonchalant attitude.

"That's an understatement," added Saber.

"Saber, you know this guy?" asked her superior, Lieutenant Henri Defense, as he stood beside her. He was twenty-two years old, the same height as Welkin, and was the most senior officer among the soldiers here. He had short brown hair, an average build, brown eyes, and a slightly dirtied face from all of the fighting that had been taking place. He was dressed the same and had the same kind of weaponry Saber did. The only difference about their uniforms was that Henri wore an Adrian steel helmet like the rest of their troops.

"Yeah. I do. His father and mine are good friends," answered Saber truthfully.

"Well since you know me I suppose I should begin introductions. This is Lara Croft...my ex-fiance." said Jack. Just as Lara was about to try and shake Saber's hand, she was surprised when Saber simply slapped her across the face, on the same side that Natasha had previously slapped her earlier today. Everyone in the room cringed as they heard the loud crack of the snap. As Lars slowly turned away from the angry Saber, she looked to Jack, having a gut feeling that he knew precisely why she had just been slapped again.

"Okay, so I may have told her about you and me," admitted Jack, looking a little scared.

"I can see that," grunted Lara, saying it through her clenched teeth.

"I suppose you didn't deserve that one either?" asked Jack.

"No I didn't deserve this you bloody idiot!" screamed Lara, using her hat to repeatedly smack Jack with before being restrained by Alicia and Daniel.

* * *

German to English translations

1\. _'Gallian truppen!' _= Gallian troops!

**Well that went well. Just thought it would be nice to show some new characters I had planned.**

**Saber in here is the one from Fate/Stay Night. In this I've depicted her as a French officer. Samus Aran some of you will recognize from the Metroid franchise. She may just seem like an average foot soldier but stay tuned for she'll be coming onto the battlefield with her own personal T-45 Ragnite Power Armor. Finally, Daniel Marks is another character loaned to me by RedRat8 from his story "Minutemen of RWBY". Check it out if you have the time. It's a good read.**

**Also, Henri Defense is pretty much from the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, an old tv show from the 1990's. Henri Defense is Indy's nom de guerre during his years fighting in the First World War.**

**P.S. The Chimera thing on Daniel's helmet is a reference to the Resistance series.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	77. SS Assault on Tambor

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

Welkin and the rest of Squad 7 managed to arrive at the cafe about thirty seconds later and Welkin managed to stabilize the situation...to an extent at least. He had Lara and Saber separated and with a set distance between the two of them. Meanwhile, the surviving IVB members and Squad 7 set about enjoying a few moments of peace that they had. Welkin was taking a short walk with Lieutenant Henri Defense so that he can explain just what exactly had happened here before Squad 7 arrived. However, Henri was at the moment expressing his gratitude to the Lieutenant.

"I want to thank you Lieutenant. I'll admit that I had given up hope that anyone would actually come to help us," admitted Henri.

"Major Blackadder got worried when you didn't check in. I guess he wanted to make sure that this place didn't fall to the Germans," said Welkin.

"That guy's like a father to a lot of us. He's always worried about us and tries to keep us all in line," noted Henri.

"Just what exactly happened here?" asked Welkin, curious how they all ended up as prisoners.

"The men you saw back there are all the IVB troops that were sent here. The only way the Germans to enter the town is over a wooden bridge over a large and rocky ditch. Despite our small size we managed to hold the bridge and keep the Germans at bay. Then one morning we woke up and the Germans were in the town and we were captured. I don't know how they managed to catch us off guard and I never will. But these guys took the town in a matter of minutes," explained Henri, going over everything that he could remember.

"Well at least you have the town back now," commented Welkin.

"Not for long. Any German soldier within miles of this place will have heard all of the commotion. They're going to come here with everything they have and I doubt we'll be able to hold them off for long," corrected Henri, looking quite grim when he said that.

"Maybe me and my squad can help," suggested Welkin. He figured that with Squad 7 and the rest of the IVB here they just might be able to come up with a plan in order to repel the Germans and keep the town out of their hands.

Henri however didn't think the same as him. He told him "I appreciate your optimism Lieutenant but this position is lost. We won't be able to hold it against the Germans. It would be best if we evacuated and informed Fort Drakon of the town's capture."

"You're that willing to abandon the town so easily?" asked Welkin.

"I'm a realist. And I've been in the Border Skirmishes for four years. Spend enough time fighting the Germans, you realize when there is a time to fight them and now is not that time. Just because you won a few fights against the Germans doesn't exactly make you an expert," answered Henri. What he said was true. He and the rest of the IVB had one thing that the Militia didn't have: experience. Unlike the boasting General's of Gallian High Command claimed about the Gallian Regulars, the soldiers that made up the IVB were highly experienced, well trained, and knew full well what they were up against. They didn't really see the Militia as viable soldiers to have when fighting a war. They didn't mean any disrespect to Welkin and his soldiers. They were merely pointing out that it takes more than a few small wins and a big one against the Germans to make them capable soldiers against the Nazi Empire.

"Maybe, but I think I have an idea here. You said that bridge is the only way for the Germans to enter the town right?" inquired Welkin, pitching his idea.

"Yeah, that's right. The only other way for them to take this town is to take one of the well defended adjacent towns and attack us from there," answered Henri.

"Well what would happen if we took out that bridge? Wouldn't that stop the Germans then?" suggested Welkin. Henri thought about it for a moment before he quickly realized what it was he was talking about. Without that bridge, the Germans wouldn't be able to attack the town for quite some time. The wouldn't need to hold out against the whole German Army. They would just need to hold them off long enough to destroy the bridge. Once it was gone, the Germans would have no choice but to pull back. It might be risky, but it would be worth a shot at the very least.

* * *

_On a nearby hill overlooking the bridge_

From atop the hill, an advance party of _Waffen SS_ soldiers surveyed the town of Tambor and the bridge that would lead them directly into it. From up there, they could see the blue silhouettes of Squad 7 as well as the IVB moving around down there preparing defensive emplacements. They weren't really worried about what they set up, because they were confident that they would be able to break through easily enough. The _SS_ always had that sense of superiority over their enemies. As the elite forces of the Nazi government and the _Wehrmacht_, it seemed only natural that they would develop this.

One of the _SS_ soldiers displayed this attitude by commenting "More Bluecoats. I was expecting a challenge, not a bunch of wannabe soldiers."

He and several other _SS_ soldiers chuckled at his comment before their commanding officer, Lieutenant Iohan Comescu, appeared from behind, coughing to get their attention. When they looked to him, a single glare from him was enough to have them all quickly shut up. Comescu, wearing a camouflaged tunic and pants along with his gear, took out his binoculars and surveyed the enemy forces located within the town. As he looked through them, he saw a familiar sight: the _Edelweiss_. There was no mistaking what this meant. Welkin Gunther, the man who evaded him at Mullow and humiliated him as well, was down there with the IVB troops in Tambor.

_"After our escape from Mullow, Iohan had begun to lost face with the SS. He was known for never letting his targets get away yet for the first time ever he had done just that. Lucina, his intended target, had escaped from his grasp and reached the safety of Gallian lines. This was humiliating for Iohan and he somewhat became fixated on getting revenge on Squad 7 and by extension, Welkin himself for evading him. He had been tracking Mary Read's troops when his men encountered one of the men who escaped Tambor. He told them about what happened and Iohan saw this as his chance for payback. So, forgoing his original task, he rallied his men as well as those he picked up from a nearby outpost and sent them forward towards Tambor, ready to squash us for good." -Jack Lawrence._

Putting away his binoculars, Iohan looked to his troops and told them with a sinister grin "Prepare to move out. Leave none of them alive. I have no use for prisoners."

* * *

"Remind me again why _we_ are the ones who have to do this?" inquired Jack as Daniel handed him a satchel loaded with explosives. After Welkin had informed them of the plan, the IVB and Squad 7 were setting up defensive positions. While they kept the Germans at bay, Jack, Daniel, Mica, and Wendy, the Squad's explosive expert, would be climbing under the wooden bridge, planting explosives that would destroy the bridge and halt the German advance. However, there was some danger to this mission. For one thing, the bridge spanned a hundred foot rocky gorge. One slip and they would fall down and get killed on the rocky bottom. And another danger was Cheslock herself. That woman was pretty unstable enough without explosives in her hands, but she was just as likely to blow themselves up as the Germans were likely to shot them if they got wind of what was happening. Neither falling to his death or being blown up by Cheslock sounded very appeasing to Jack.

"Because Jack you said you blew up bridges before which is more experience than most of us have," explained Welkin.

"Yeah, but with a bazooka, the occasionally tank. I never really climbed under one and planted explosives on it before," corrected Jack.

"Aw come on Cap, this'll be just like old times," said Daniel, trying to cheer him up.

"We were younger then," pointed out Jack.

"We still are young," noted Daniel.

"We were up against the bloody Red Army, not a bunch of goddamn Nazis. These guys are worse," countered Jack.

"Will you just get going and set the charges already?" complained Largo, wishing that they would just get this over with. Jack, knew that arguing any further was just pointless, proceeded to the bridge with his three associates following him. When they reached the edge, Jack looked down to see the full depth of the gorge. It seemed much deeper when one looked close enough, and boy did it look deep. As Jack was looking down at the high ledge, Wendy and Mica began climbing down towards the supports of the wooden bridge. Cheslock had a satchel full of explosives while Mica was carrying a Mags-M4 sub-machine gun. If the Germans spotted Jack and Wendy as they were planting the explosives, it would be up to him and Daniel to protect them while they accomplished the job.

One look at Daniel's weapon of choice got Jack's attention. It was the M5A2 Folsom Carbine, an American assault rifle that Jack thought was still in the prototype stage. It was designed to be the U.S. militaries equivalent to the Germans Stg44 assault rifle already in use. The weapon had a fifth round magazine, twenty rounds more than that of it's German equivalent. It also had the addition of the sights from the M1 Garand as well as an under barrel grenade launcher to help boost it's firepower. The rifle entered production a month after the Soviet-American War had ended and a batch of them had been sent with the Devil's Brigade members to serve in the IVB. Daniel himself acquired one and found it to be accurate, reliable, and had good stopping power.

"Aw, I want one of those," complained Jack, wishing he had one.

"I can get you one when this is over. Come on," said Daniel as he. And Jack climbed down towards the supports of the bridge and along with Mica and Wendy they carefully planted the explosives. Meanwhile, the rest of Squad 7 and the IVB were finishing setting up their defenses alongside the wooden bridge. The French and American members of the IVB had taken up positions on the upper floors of a building overlooking the bridge.

The French had set up a Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun to help provide suppressive fire on the Germans. The Hotchkiss was the main machine gun used by the French during the Great War. The weapon itself was different from the Maxim style machine guns used by other Europan nations at the time. Perhaps it's biggest difference was that the weapon used a metal strip containing thirty 8mm bullets instead of an ammunition belt containing over two hundred and fifty bullets. This meant they ran out of bullets more often and had to reload more than the Germans had to. As of now, it was all the IVB had in the heavy weapons department compared to Squad 7 who had two armored vehicles at their disposal.

Squad 7 took position in a shallow, improvised trench system that had been dug up by the IVB and ran along the bridge facing the opening to it. The trench was barely dug into the road, resulting in the Squad having to crouch down behind the mound of dirt and sandbags for protection. The _Edelweiss_ positioned itself behind the shallow trench to provide them with heavy weapons support. Meanwhile, Welkin had Arianna back up the _Shamrock_ inside of the cafe, creating a sort of improvised bunker for the tank with it protected by the building. They all laid in position, waiting for the inevitable German counterattack to begin.

Within minutes, they began hearing the sounds of tanks rumbling towards their location along with the sound of marching boots. A few seconds passed before the eventually got sight of their enemies. The first thing they saw was several _SS_ soldiers in forest camouflage and armed with Kar98k rifles slowly and carefully marching forward towards the bridge, coming around a corner as the Gallians see them. Next up that came were the Panzer 38(t) tanks.

These tanks were manufactured in the Czechoslovakia Province of the Nazi Empire. They were medium tanks designed for policing their territories and fighting against partisans such as the Archanean Liberation Front. Their armor was riveted instead of welded together, and the armor itself was about an inch thick, the same as the Gallian Light Tank. That meant that the Panzer 38(t) was one of the few tanks that the Gallian Light Tank could take on one on one and manage to win. However, the same could be said for the Panzer 38(t). It's armament included a 37mm main cannon as well as two machine guns with one mounted in the hull and one in a coaxial position in the turret. The bulk of the German armored forces were made up of Panzer 38(t)'s because they were small, fast, and were able to maneuver themselves through the thick Ardennes Forest. In fact, these tanks were the one's that spearheaded the charge into the Ardennes, quickly overrunning the Gallian troops with their _Blitzkrieg_ tactics. Yet despite all of these advantages over the standard Gallian armored units, this particular model of Panzer's were still outgunned by the _Edelweiss_ as they were pretty much considered to be pee-shooters when compared side by side to the _Edelweiss_.

The _Waffen SS_ soldiers, now more visible, were evidently much larger in size than the Gallian troops, outnumbering them at least three to one. They slowly marched forward till they instantly caught a glimpse of the Gallian forces. The moment they saw them the_ SS_ troops sprung into action, heading to cover while taking a few pot shots at the Gallians, initiating the firefight. Squad 7 quickly returned fire as the battle begun. Welkin lined up the cannon of the _Edelweiss_ at one of the Panzer 38(t)'s, loading an armor piercing round, before firing. The shell flew through the air, smashing through the Panzer's thin armor, demolishing the whole front of the tank and killing the crew. The _SS_ soldiers took cover behind the trees on either side of the road on their end of the bridge, shooting back at the Gallians and the IVB soldiers, who opened up on them from their vantage point, cutting down several _SS_ soldiers before they managed to reach cover.

From down below, under the bridge, the four man team worked as fast as they could to wire the bridge with explosives so that they could get out of there as fast as possible and stop the German advance. At this point, the fighting had begun to be wage on the bridge itself as they could hear the sounds of footsteps over them as the German forces were advancing upon the Gallian lines. At this point if they didn't finish quickly, they would end up as target practice for any German troops that were above them. A worried Mica, standing on a level beam and holding onto a vertical one, with his Mags-M4 in his hand, and guarding Wendy as she was setting up one of the last few bombs, voiced his concern by saying "I don't like this Sarge. We should get out of here, and quickly."

"I would agree with you there 'Captain Obvious'. Except for the fact that if we don't finish this, then none of us are going to survive this," responded a very pressured Jack as he stood on the other side of the bridge's supports, with Daniel guarding him, and placing one of the final charges as well. They were nearly done with placing the charges. They just needed some time to plant a few more and they would be out of there. However, before they could do so, they encountered a problem. One of the _SS_ soldiers who was firing from behind a tree stopped to reload and as he did so he noticed the four of them balancing on the bridge's wooden support beams. It was then that his view drifted slightly to see the explosive charges they were planting as well. It didn't take him long to put two and two together and figure out what the hell was going on. Reacting on instinct, he shouted at the top of his lungs while pointing them out "They're wiring the bridge! Shoot them!"

He and several other German soldiers then proceeded to do that, firing at them with Kar98k's, MP-40's, and Stg44's. They're shots missed them by either flying right past them or simply striking the wooden supports of the bridge. The four of them tried to take cover but it was hard to do so. The narrow beams offered limited protection and the group also had to take cover while balancing on the wooden supports so they wouldn't fall down to their deaths in the process. Jack, utterly annoyed by the situation, shouted out to the others as he pulls out one of his Colt 1911 pistols "This was a bad plan in the beginning and now it just got a hell of a lot worse!"

"Aye, aye Cap," responded Daniel as he loaded a 40mm grenade into the launcher of his M5A2. He then carefully angled the rifle to allow the grenade to land directly on the German position. Once he was sure of it he pulled the trigger, and the grenade soared through the air towards the SS. Soon, it landed directly at their feet, exploding when it made contact with the ground. The surrounding area was lit up by the explosion which was blue in color thanks to the Ragnite that was infused within the grenade. The blast seared the ground, caused parts of the nearby trees to shatter and send large, sharp wooden splinters in every direction with some being buried in some of the _SS_ soldiers. Finally, the force of the blast sent some of the soldiers up into the air and over the edge into the gorge. The troops screamed as they fell down to their deaths.

Staring at the effect of the gun in surprise, Jack looked back to Daniel and commented "Okay, now I _really_ want one of those things."

"This is a fun toy boss. I wouldn't blame ya if you did," commented Daniel. With the coast for them clear, Jack signaled for Wendy and Mica to start climbing up as well. As they climbed up, one of the _SS_ soldiers who was standing right next to rail as it fired on the Gallians noticed Jack and Daniel climbing up. He turned and pointed his Kar98k at Jack and was about to shoot. But before he could, Jack grabbed his shirt and pulled him over the ledge, having the German fall to his death towards the rocky bottom. The four of them then proceeded to climb back onto the bridge and then sprinting towards the Gallian lines with their comrades offering cover fire all the way till they reached the safety of friendly lines.

Once they were safe, Alicia looked over to them and asked "Are the charges set?"

"Yeah. Just give me the damn box with the lever thingy so we can blow this thing to hell," commented Jack, looking forward to simply ending this. Alicia did just that. She grabbed the detonation box, which had a wire that connected to the explosives that were planted on the bridge. One push from the lever on top and it would be bye bye bridge and a halt on the German advance in this area. As Jack was about to push the lever down, he noticed something odd, which slowly but surely, the rest of Squad 7 seemed to notice as well: The Germans had stopped firing. They had lost almost twenty men and at least two Panzer tanks in the firefight yet here they were now holding positions but keeping their weapons trained on the Gallians. Squad 7 also stopped shooting when they realized this, and each one of them were puzzled as to why. Welkin, suspicious as well, climbed out of the _Edelweiss_ and took position alongside Largo and Rosie in the trench systems.

As they were figuring out what this was all about, a figure appeared among the German troops at the bridgehead, and that answered their question. There they saw the familiar face of Iohan Comescu, the Darcsen _SS_ Lieutenant that they encountered while rescuing Lucina at Mullow just a few days ago. He was slowly strolling towards the front of the line, slowly clapping his hands as if he was mocking them in some way. When the members of Squad 7 saw him, they immediately tensed up. This guy had left a pretty big impression the last time they met. And they weren't exactly glad to encounter him again and this soon. In the shock, Vyse whispered to Father Hendricks, who was right beside him "You might want to start praying now Father."

"Oh, I'm praying already," assured Father Hendricks.

Groaning in frustration, Rosie commented to herself "Oh great, the Dark-Hair of the _SS_ is back."

Iohan, stopping just in front of his troops, pulled out his scoped Kar98k which he had slung over his shoulder, then looked at the Gallians and shouted "I'll admit, I was surprised to hear that you lot were in the Ardennes. I'm also impressed by the fact that you lot even decided to defend this sorry excuse of a town. Since I seem to hold all the cards here I'll try to be merciful for you. If you surrender now, I'll consider ending your lives quickly and without any pain whatsoever. If you don't, then I'm going to make your deaths as slowly and painfully as possible."

"Or I could just do this!" shouted Jack as he prepared to push the lever on the detonation box and blow the bridge sky high. However, just as he was about to push the lever, Iohan reacted quicker and with lightning fast reflexes he fired his rifle and with accurate precision he cut the wire connecting the detonation box with the explosives on the bridge. With that connection severed, they lost their one and only trump card towards this fight. Now they needed to think of something, and fast.

"I'm afraid that you won't be blowing up this bridge anytime soon. I spent a whole lot of time trying to find a Regular Lieutenent and her cavalry squadron. I just found out that she and her men just made it back across the Gallian lines through a town not far from here. I've lost twice already, more than I can allow. But I can still make up for it by killing all of you," noted Iohan, readying his rifle as the rest of his men prepare for the final push against the Gallians. The Gallians soon braced themselves for the push as Welkin tried to think of an idea how to push them back and fast. Because if they didn't do something quick, then the _SS_ would overrun their position and wipe them all out. Before they could work on thinking of that, the French soldiers of the IVB acted for them. The two French soldiers manning the Hotchkiss machine gun opened fire on the Germans killing a few and causing the rest to take cover and the firefight began once again.

Iohan reacted quickly, aiming his Kar98k at the machine gun team. After firing two shots in rapid succession he killed the two French soldiers with head shots, effectively taking out the Hotchkiss from the equation. However, fire coming from the IVB members of the building was still causing significant casualties among his men as well as that being caused by Squad 7. One of the two remaining Panzer 38(t)'s took aim at the building with it's main 37mm cannon and fired. The shell struck the corner room of the second floor building, killing two of the American soldiers that were inside and destroying the room as well. Arianna, taking advantage of the situation, took aim at the side of the Panzer 38(t) and fired the _Shamrock's_ main cannon. The shell pierced through the side armor and knocked the tank in an explosion the destroyed the inside of the tank and killed it's crew.

However the remaining Panzer 38(t) struck next. It traversed it's turret and took careful aim at the _Shamrock_ as Leon tried to aim the cannon at the German first. However, he, Arianna and Kreis soon realized that this wasn't going to work. The BT-7's armor was designed to protect it from small arms, not cannon shells. They needed to get out of the _Shamrock_ before the German Panzer blew it all to hell. Panicking and moving as fast as they could, the three of them exit through the hatches of the tank and ran towards the Gallian trench lines as fast as they could. They only managed to get clear of the cafe when the Panzer fired, striking the _Shamrock_ in the engine compartment, easily piercing through the thin armor. The Ragnite engine exploded, engulfing the cafe and the tank is a fiery, red explosion. The force of the blast knocked it's fleeing crew to the ground. They were dazed, but not out. Soon, the the three of them crawled over to the _Edelweiss_ and hid behind it for safety. The remaining Panzer 38(t) moved forward across the bridge, intending to take the fight to the Gallians on the other side of the bridge.

It didn't get far as Jann took out his Lancaar-M4, quickly took aim and fired the rocket. It narrowly struck the side of the Panzer, hitting the running gear on the side. It caused the tank to swerve and take a hard right when it crossed the bridge and stopped several yards away from the bridge, now unable to move. Nina and Alex them moved forward and climbed on board the tank. Alex opened the turret hatch while Nina let loose a full magazine into the crew compartment of the tank with her BAR, killing the crew and riddling their bodies with ricochets and precise shots. Once they were dead, Nina quickly reloaded and mocked the tank crew, saying "Your shiny toy didn't protect you now didn't it ya cowards?"

Iohan was now getting very irritated, his armored support was gone and many of his men are dead. Getting tired with this prolonged shootout, he ordered all of his men to advance forward across the bridge. The remaining _SS_ troops, numbering fifty in total, slowly advanced across the bridge, firing their weapons and pinning the Gallian and IVB troops to make sure that they didn't try and shoot back. However a few of them managed to fire their weapons back before having to quickly duck back into cover. One of those who fired back was Welkin, who, taking a Gallian Mauser 1889 took aim at Iohan himself who was leading the advance with his Lahti pistol. Welkin fired the shot which hit Iohan in his right shoulder, causing him to stagger backward and clutch his bleeding shoulder. Looking angrily at Welkin, he fired a few wild shots at him as he quickly retreated back. His men stopped and gave cover fire to their injured commander as they fled back.

"Nice shot boss, but how the hell are we going to take out the rest of these goons?" inquired Largo, complimenting Welkin on hitting the _SS_ Lieutenant.

"I can handle that!" answered Isara, peeking out from the turret hatch before hopping back into the _Edelweiss_ and closing it.

"How is Isara going to handle this?!" questioned Jack, looking at Alicia while also pointing at the mass of German troops ahead. Suddenly, the _Edelweiss_ backed up a bit before parking itself. The main cannon of the _Edelweiss_ soon began to elevate at a high angle. At this rate, Welkin and the others wondered what Isara was doing as she wasn't even aiming at the German troops at all. To their surprise the _Edelweiss_ fired it's cannon, but a cannon shell didn't come out, instead it was an 88mm mortar shell. The shell whistled as it flew through the air, traveling at a high arc towards the bride now crowded with German troops. The _SS_, hearing the whistling of the mortar shell, looked up and saw it heading towards them. They immediately turned around and began to run away. The mortar hit the bridge moments later, exploding in a blue blaze and setting off the explosives planted on the supports. They exploded and the bridge, as well as any _SS_ troops that were still on it, were destroyed in the series of explosions that tore it apart.

The remaining Germans, about five of them including Iohan, retreated as two of them helped their injured boss with the remaining three covered their retreat before joining them. Once the Nazis were all gone, Welkin, Alicia, Largo, Rosie, and Jack looked back to Isara, now standing through the turret hatch and waving over to them, completely surprised over what had just happened. Jack, ever with a line at the ready, said "Your little sister just saved our asses from the _Waffen SS_...will wonder's never cease?"

* * *

**And this chapter is now done. Sorry for how long this took, I've just started college again so my time has been tight recently. I'd just thought I'd let you know this and that there may be a slight increase of time in between when the next chapter will come out. Just thought I'd inform you all about this.**

**I thought I'd give a bit of history to when the _SS_ and _Gestapo_ were officially founded in this story given how long the Nazi Reich has been around in this story. I figure that they were founded around 1835. The _Wehrmacht_ originally had the black uniforms but adopted a different color with the _SS_ then wearing their distinctive black uniforms. Their original purpose was to act as security for the government officials and guard the concentration camps with their roles extending over the years.**

**The _Gestapo_ are a different story all together. They existed in previous forms of secret police organizations over the centuries but they weren't organized as the _Gestapo_ officially until the days of the Protestant Reformation in the 1500's. **

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	78. Back at Fort Drakon

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Several Hours Later_

_Fort Drakon_

_1208 hours (12:08 pm)_

With Tambor secured against any further German incursions, and hearing the news that Mary Read's company had managed to reach back towards Gallian lines, Squad 7 as well as the surviving members of Tambor's IVB garrison returned back to Fort Drakon. Welkin went to the Fort's Medical Ward where she and her men were being checked out for the certain injuries they got while on the run from the Germans. Mary herself sustained minor bruises and scratches. However, the same could not be said for some of her men who were killed while they were on the run. For now she was sitting on her hospital bed while the doctor gave her one last checkup before he could dismiss her from the hospital with a clean bill of health. And as the doctor finished it up, he noted to her "Okay well I don't see any long term trauma. I just need to file out some paperwork and you'll be all set to go."

He then set off to another area to fill it out, leaving Mary to collect her thoughts. As she was putting her officer's cap back on, she heard someone say to her "Well you look worse for wear."

She looks to see that it's Welkin Gunther standing beside her. She smiled at him before adding "Yeah, and I feel like shit too. You spend a few days on the run with Nazis everywhere looking for you and you tell me how you feel."

"Well I fought against them so I guess that's about as close as I'll get to that," surmised Welkin. He didn't really know what Mary and her troops went through in the Ardennes, being on the run constantly from the German forces, including Iohan Comescu's troops, but he could come up with a pretty good picture at least. They never stayed in one spot for very long, always on the move, always looking over their shoulder or checking their surroundings to see if they were being followed, and being so physically exhausted that they always felt that they couldn't move on any further. And when they managed to reach the safety of friendly lines, they would have been overjoyed to be safe, relieved that this nightmare of theirs was over, and eager as hell to get some rest from all the constant marching and running. Welkin couldn't blame them for wanting some food, rest, and sleep after everything they had been through. Welkin would feel the same if he were in their situation.

"I suppose so. I heard you got attacked by Comescu again. Did you kill that son of a bitch?" inquired Mary. She had heard of Comuscu and was quite appalled by the idea that a dark-air would willingly fight for the Nazi Empire, or the _SS_ for that matter. All she knew was that everyone would be better off if this guy was dead and buried instead of free to walk around and simply terrorize them more.

"No, but I did hit him in the shoulder. He won't be sniping anyone for a while," answered Welkin. He knew from observing Iohan at Tambor that he's right handed. And by hitting him in his right shoulder, it rendered him unable to shoot the rifle without causing himself more pain from the recoil of the rifle when it fired. He would be out of commission for several weeks as his wound would heal. This in turn would save countless lives from being sniped by the 'Darcsen Demon' in any future battle.

"Yeah. But still, I'd sleep a lot better when that guy's dead. He cost me a few good men while we were running," informed Mary, thinking back on the men she had lost to him.

"I'm sorry to hear that. How about the rest of your men? How are they?" inquired Welkin.

"A little shaken up, but otherwise they're okay," informed Mary, standing up on her feet and dusting herself off. After this point, Mary was seriously thinking about becoming a cavalry officer. At least there her men would be relegated to towing small pieces of artillery and doing simple recon missions. They wouldn't really be placed on the same situation they were just in. But on the other hand, she simply wanted to stay on the front lines because she felt that it was her duty to try and help repel the German invaders from Gallia any way that she could. Knowing her, Welkin figured that she would just figure out a way to balance both out: to find a way to keep her man out of harms way constantly as well as finding ways to have her men be a part of the fighting too.

"Well if it means anything I'm glad to see that you're okay," noted Welkin. The very words that Welkin said caused Mary's cheeks to blush red. She was very surprised to hear this. Welkin was actually worried about her well being. To her, that actually meant a really big deal, more than she could tell him out of fear of embarrassing herself in the process. All that she could do on the matter was try and reply back with something and quick, otherwise they would simply be standing there in complete and awkward silence. Meanwhile, neither of them noticed that Alicia was passing by the exit and entering the medical ward to report on something to Welkin. She noticed the two were talking and simply decided to wait by the entrance and wait till they were done. From where she was standing, she could see everything that they were saying.

Managing to collect her thoughts, she said "Thanks, I suppose. Never thought I'd get that kind of concern for my well being from a Gunther."

"Well I'll admit that we all didn't get off on the right foot. But in these past few days, you've kind of grown on me," admitted Welkin, with every word he said as true. Mary was silent for a moment as she looked straight at Welkin. What happened next surprised Alicia, Welkin, and even Mary herself. Acting on a sudden impulse, She grabbed by the jacket and pulled in for a kiss. Welkin, so full of shock, just stood there frozen as Mary kissed him. Alicia's mouth dropped open as it happened. She just couldn't believe that Welkin was even putting up with this, much less the fact that he wasn't doing anything to stop this. Out of annoyance and disgust, she simply stomped away from the medical ward without either of them noticing.

The kiss finally came to an end when Mary realized when she was doing, let go of Welkin, and took a few steps back. Her face was flush with embarrassment and she was utterly speechless for she had absolutely no way at explaining what had just happened. Welkin was in a similar state as he was still frozen in place from the shock. This wasn't exactly something he was expecting to happen, nor did he actually wish it would happen. He knew that Mary had developed an infatuation with him but he didn't think she would simply kissed him on impulse. Managing to finally shake off the initial shock, he was about to say something when Mary, embarrassed beyond belief simply stormed out of the medical ward, not saying a word.

Jack, who had noticed Alicia walking away from the ward, went inside to ask Welkin what had happened. As he entered, Mary marched right on past him, bumping Jack in the shoulder as she stormed out, causing Jack to look between her and a surprised Welkin as he tried to piece what he knew together into a picture. With nothing making sense at all, he simply looked to Welkin and asked him bluntly "What the hell just happened? What did I miss?"

"I'd tell you, but I don't think you'd actually believe me," answered Welkin as he walked out, leaving Jack only more confused.

* * *

_Thirty-five minutes later_

_Fort Drakon Tavern_

Jack eventually made his way to the Fort's Tavern for a drink. He didn't know what had happened in the medical ward and he didn't want to know. All he knew was that he had enough drama now in his life. And all that he wanted know was an ice cold Coka-a-cola and someone to talk to. Luckily, both of those things were in the same place. When he entered the Tavern and headed for the bar section, he found Saber and Daniel already there and having a few drinks themselves. They came here to trade some stories and have some drinks at the same time. Jack noticed them there and decided to join them.

Soon they were talking about what had happened in the past. Jack and Daniel told Saber about what had happened in Alaska, with Saber explaining what she had been doing since she last saw Jack. She told them that she's been taking part of the Border Skirmishes that had been taking place on the French-German border. Things had been getting pretty heated there before she got transferred over to Gallia to be a part of the French contingent of the International Volunteers Brigade. As for Daniel, when the Soviets surrendered and the peace talks began, he went home to visit his family at their farm just outside of Quebec city. There he stayed there for a while before he was stationed at the Army base in Vancouver before he was also picked to be a part of the IVB as well. He and Saber had been doing missions against the German forces here in the Ardennes, mainly sabotage raids as well as some covert operations behind enemy lines. And they have been pretty successful in this, having dealt a big blow to German positions throughout the Ardennes area.

Jack on the other hand, told them about how his father got him enrolled at the University of Randgriz, about him meeting Welkin, his trial and eventual rescue courtesy of Jack's father and Lara, as well as every battle from Bruhl to the fight at the scrapyard. Right now, he was telling them about how they met Alicia back in Bruhl, and his two compatriots were getting a laugh out of this. He finished with "And we turned around, we saw Alicia standing behind us, holding a rifle and saying 'You're under arrest'. I think it's safe to say that this whole meeting could have gone better."

Both Saber and Daniel let loose in a fit of laughter. Daniel, managing to recover first, spat out "So wait a minute. Your Sergeant actually accused you and Lieutenant Gunther of being German spies?"

"Well between the guns, the map, and the journal, we pretty much screamed 'suspicious characters' to anyone bright enough to notice. So I guess you can say that we kind of brought it upon ourselves," admitted Jack, adding air quotes when he said 'suspicious characters'.

"I knew you got yourself into jams before but being accused of being a German spy? That's a new one," noted Saber, before taking a chug from her drink.

"Yeah well at least she didn't shoot him. What would the world do without his snappy comebacks," said Daniel in a joking matter.

"Ha, ha, ha. I get the picture. What about you Saber? What does your father think of what you're doing here?" asked Jack, with this thought coming into mind. The moment he mentioned this, Saber instantly grew silent and turned her head away from Jack, showing how sensitive of a subject this was for her. One thing about her and Jack that they had in common was that they had somewhat difficult is not estranged relationships with their fathers. And Saber never really agreed on anything with her father at all, even when she enlisted into the French military.

Saber's father was a General in the French military. Currently he was assigned to oversee the Maginot Line, the massive line of fortifications that ran all along France's border with the Imperial Germanian Reich. This position was vital to France's future security against another invasion by the Nazis like the one they experienced back during the Great War. France lost over a million men and women in that war trying to defend their lands, which resulted in a whole generation being butchered. They constructed the Maginot line as a result in order to make sure such terrible losses never happen. French High Command, Saber's father included, were certain that the Maginot line was impenetrable, as part of their unshakable belief that the next major war with the Nazis would become like the static warfare of the Great War.

Younger officers like Saber and Lieutenant Defense however thought differently. They were more in touch when it came to modern warfare than the old Generals they took orders from. To these Generals, they had no real grasp on modern warfare, and would basically order a bayonet charge right on a German defensive line that had artillery and machine guns. Meanwhile, the younger officers figured that coordinated attacks with tanks and infantry were the future of warfare and there were many soldiers that agreed with them, which caused these officers to earn the ire of French High Command.

When the war in Gallia began, several officers, including Henri and Saber, advocated sending troops to aid them saying that if the Germans would be victorious, France would fall next. However their superiors disagreed, placing their unshakable belief in the Maginot line would be enough to protect France even if Gallia had fallen. Saber's father was one such man who agreed with them. So without authorization from their superiors, Henri recruited a group of officers, along with every soldier they could rally, and crossed the border into Gallia. Eventually they joined the IVB, and fought alongside them throughout the Ardennes theater of the war. And ever since she left, Saber and her father had not spoken since, and Saber wasn't really looking forward to speaking with him now, or at all.

And she expressed this to Jack by admitting "My father and are aren't exactly on the best of terms. And I'd thank you for not bringing this up again."

"Suit yourself, thought I'd just ask," said Jack, not willing to continue prying information about this out of her.

"Yeah well my mood wasn't exactly improved when your British girl showed up. That pretty much soured everything," commented Saber.

"Yeah, we know. We were there when you slapped her, remember? You and this 'Natasha' Jack talked about have that in common," said Daniel remembering that moment. And just as he said that, he saw Natasha entering the room and heading straight for the three of them. Looks like Jack had a few more introductions to make today.

So when she reached them, Jack pointed to Daniel and said "Ah, good, you're here. I got someone I want you to meet. Natasha, this is Sergeant Daniel Marks. He and I served together in the same squad during the war. Daniel, this is Natasha, the Russian girl I mentioned about."

_"When I introduced Daniel and Natasha...I seemed to have failed in grasping the repercussions of my actions...wow. A lot of big words. I've been spending way to much time with Welkin. Anyway, the moment after I introduced the two of them, Daniel and Natasha became smitten with each other almost instantly. And they had all the signs that gave it away. Their cheeks blushed, their eyes widened, and they were silent for a few moments before I nudged Daniel into the shoulder to get him to restart the conversation." -Jack Lawrence_

"Oh uh, hello Natasha, it's nice to meet you," said Daniel, managing to come out of his entrancement with Natasha to finally talk to her, extending his hand for a handshake.

"Yeah...it's nice to meet you too. Any friend of this Yank here is a friend of mine," replied Natasha, as she shook Daniel's hand.

"Now as much as I'd like to spend the rest of my time talking to you, I've got to report in to Lara, which is the last thing that I wanted at this moment," mentioned Jack as he rolled his eyes in annoyance. Ever since their arrival at Tambor, Daniel noticed the hostility that was evident between Jack and Lara. The last time that he saw them was in early August when the Soviet's announced their surrender and the peace talks began. To be honest, he just didn't understand it at all. The two of them seemed to be really in love when their unit was back together. The last thing Daniel remembered saying to them before he was sent home was him offering his congratulations on their engagement as well as good luck on whatever they had planned for their future. Now here they were practically at each other's throats. Heck, after one of Jack's usual comments, Lara just proceeded to slap at him with her hat. Normally she would have just looked sternly at Jack in the past, but now it seemed that she had escalated.

"What's with you and Lara anyway Cap? Your engagement hitting a rocky patch?" asked Daniel sincerely.

Jack, placing his drink down, looked to Daniel and admitted "Lara and I...aren't engaged anymore. In fact, we haven't spoken to each other for months...up until a few days ago."

"Wait, seriously? What happened between the two of you?" inquired Daniel, surprised to hear this and wanting to know the reason for this.

"Lara happened. She was the one who broke off our engagement," answered Jack.

"Okay. But why did she do that?" question Daniel, with half his question answered.

Jack simply said the final bit of info as bluntly as he could, saying "I don't know. She never bothered to tell me why. And she never did no matter how many time I brought it up."

Daniel was shocked by that bit. In all the time that he had known Lara, he never knew her for holding back on information like that. It just wasn't in her character to normally do so. If she was doing this then there had to be a legitimate reason for doing this...though the reason for breaking off her engagement with Jack without telling him the reason why simply eluded Daniel at the moment. To these two, Daniel was like a bigger brother to them of sorts when they were all at war. So he felt that it was his responsibility to figure out Lara's reasons whether she wanted to give them up or not. So without much of a word, he put down his drink, excused himself, and marched right off towards Lara'a office. Jack, wondering where in the world he was going to, decided a few minutes later to follow him, leaving Saber and Natasha to discuss among themselves with the boys running off to do their own thing.

* * *

_Lara's Office_

Lara's office was in the center of the fortress, with it over looking the training grounds stationed inside. She had a wooden desk situated by the window with her being seated wit her back facing it. On her desk were a few books as well as the paperwork she was trying to finish. On one side of her room there was a large map of Europa as well as several filing cabinets filled with reports, requisition forms, and other such papers. And on the other side of the room there was a large portrait of King George VI, Great Britain and Ireland's current King along with a bookcase filled to the brim with books. These books were classic literature, ranging from _Les Miserables _by Victor Hugo and _Romeo and Juliet _written by the great English poet, William Shakespeare. Finally, set on either side of room adjacent to Lara were two flags attached to flagpoles, with the both flags being the Union Jack of Great Britain and her Empire. All of these together were the proper accessories of what was needed for a British Officer in His Majesty's Royal Army.

And just as Lara was about to finish up on her paperwork, Daniel barged in, looking quite irritated. He immediately walked straight over to Lara's desk and demanded "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Lara, not sure where Daniel was going with this, got out from behind her desk and inquired "Um, could you elaborate for me _why_ you're angry with me all of a sudden?"

"I just had a little chat with Jack. Why did you break off the engagement?" asked Daniel, wanting an answer and wanting one now.

Lara merely rolled her eyes before poking Daniel in the chest and explaining to him sternly "Daniel, this is none of your business. This is between me and Jack. You have nothing to do with this. And I would be glad if you left it that way."

Lara then proceeded to leave but just as she was about to leave, Daniel quickly moved behind her and wrapped his arm around her neck, holding her firmly inside of a choke hold that prevented her from actually escaping. Though that didn't stop her from trying. She jerked and squirmed to break loose but no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't get free. Apparently Daniel was a lot stronger than she had originally believed. Eventually she then resorted to good old threats in order to escape. When she stopped squirming, she threatened Daniel, saying "If you don't let me go right now I'm going to kick you in a certain area so hard that you won't be able to have children."

"You're not exactly in a position to negotiate here Lara. And you're going to stay there until you tell me the truth. Why did you suddenly break off your engagement with Jack, and why all the secrecy as to your reasons?" replied Daniel as he began his interrogation. He didn't care if Lara threatened to court marital him, he was getting answers, whether she liked it or not.

"What part of 'this is none of your business' do you not understand you Quebecker moron?" complained Lara, not looking forward to this at all.

"No, I don't. Now tell me...right...now," responded Daniel, still not taking no for an answer.

"Ugh, alright fine! I'll tell you! Just let me go!" demanded Lara. She had figured out that by telling Daniel the truth that she had been hiding from Jack all these months was about the only way for her to even leave this room. Hearing those words, Daniel released Lara from the choke hold as she massaged her neck from the prolonged time being in the choke hold. One she was done, Lara got straight to the facts.

"First of all let me say this: breaking off my engagement to Jack, it...it wasn't exactly easy to do. But certain things kept getting in the way for us," admitted Lara. He tone was much different than it had been in the past few days. Her tone was much softer, and he emotions behind it seemed to be a mixture of sadness and regret. This is definitely not the Lara that anyone had seen since the end of the war. Seeing this change of tone in her voice proved that there was something more to this.

"What do you mean? What happened between you two?" asked Daniel, not sure specifically where this was going.

"After Anchorage, I noticed there was a change in Jack. Like the fighting that day and everything he saw caused a small part of him to die on the inside. And every day since he...struggled to come to terms with the things that he had to do during the war. And every once in a while I found him...I found him reliving the nightmares of all that happened. One day I talked to one of the doctors at the base and he...he confirmed what I pretty much figured out," explained Lara, her voice beginning to break as those memories came flooding back to her. Daniel quickly began to piece things together. Apparently what Lara was saying was that Jack was suffering from 'Shell Shock', though Daniel didn't know how to respond to it.

Shell shock was a condition first observed in soldiers returning from the Crimean War in 1856, noting the effects on the war as it mentally affected the French and British soldiers that were returning home from fighting the Germans there for the past three years. They noticed that the traumatic experiences in the war as well as the constant pressure of fighting put a strain on the minds of these soldiers. They ended up experiencing relapses of what had happened, with the slightest trigger causing those terrible memories to flood back as clear as ever. Doctors have been trying for almost a century to try and help them as best as they could. But so far all that they could do was treat them, not cure them. But to Daniel, part of this didn't make sense to him. Jack never showed signs of breaking down to anyone. Only Lara seemed to notice.

"Jack has Shell Shock? How? He seems fine to me," noted Daniel, seeing how Jack seems the same as ever.

"The doctor told me that Jack is an uncommon case, though not unheard of. Apparently Jack has a strong willpower that enables him to suppress it, and allow him to continue to function normally as a human being. However, there are still times where his memories break through. When that happens he...he wasn't the same," answered Lara, still sounding both sad and regretful by the tone of her voice. Lara remembered all those nights with Jack where he woke up in the middle of the night screaming from the nightmares and how she would try and comfort him. She had tried this for two whole years, as she tried to keep him sane enough to fight. For a while though, Jack had kept this a secret from her, and everyone else who knew him. Ever since he was a kid, all he ever wanted to be was a soldier. If the U.S. military found out about this then they would have immediately discharged him and send him all the way back to New York City. That was something that Jack didn't want, so he kept it a secret from everyone, even begging the doctor who diagnosed him to keep it a secret, though he did it largely under protest.

"How does this relate to you breaking off your engagement?" inquired Daniel, still not seeing how this was all adding up.

"Remember that week long tension where it looked like the peace talks would break down and the fighting would start all over again? Even though it didn't happen, it still looked like it was bound to happen. I was afraid that if the fighting resumed, and if I was killed...then the Jack that I knew would finally break. So I ended it...to try and help," admitted Lara, though not proud in the fact that she finally did so. If she was going to do so, she would have liked to do it in front of Jack...not anyone else.

"How in the world did that make any sense?" criticized Daniel, not seeing the logic in Lara's reasoning. She tried to spare him pain...by leaving him? To anyone with half a brain, there was just no way you can put this that would make an decent amount of sense to them. If Lara really cared about Jack, then she wouldn't have done what she had done. There was no way that this would have ended other than badly in her way of doing things. What surprised him however, was just how Lara responded in defense of her actions.

"I TRIED DANIEL! I tried to make things work! For two blasted years I tried to keep Jack together! You and everyone else in the squad left for home! I stayed while you all left! I regret what I did back then, and I still do now! But back then I didn't know what else to do! At the time it seemed like the only thing I could do!" shouted Lara, tears beginning to form in her eyes as all her pent up emotions on the subject began flooding back to the surface. She may have seem that she was the same girl after her failed engagement, but she was simply keeping all those mixed emotions bottled up inside and hidden from all except those that were closest to her. Daniel saw how much she was hurting, and he was absolutely speechless as he had no idea what to do or say to one of his former commanders. However, before either one could say anything, they heard a cough coming from the opened door. Both of them turned their heads to see Jack in the entrance, looking slightly depressed, and with his hands in his pockets.

Jack, who had followed Daniel towards Lara's office, arrived just in time to hear most of the conversation. To say he had just been given some bad news would have been a total and gross understatement. He had wanted for almost a year to hear precisely what Lara's reasons were for breaking off their engagement, but this wasn't exactly like he had thought they would be. She broke his heart...in order to save his own sanity. He didn't know how to respond to that kind of logic. Lara always did see things differently than Jack ever did so it's possible that this did make sense to her at the time. But that did not explain his own sadness that he was feeling at the moment. He thought that if he found out the truth, then maybe he'd fins some peace on the issue. But this feeling he had...it wasn't peace. So without another word, he turned around and left, slamming the door shut, despite Lara trying to stop him and explain.

* * *

_Meanwhile, at the Barracks_

_Outside Fort Drakon's Walls_

Faldio was speaking to Ramal about the state of their unit. By now, with the Ragnaid treatments had healed up their troops and they were all now back up on their feet and ready to go on another mission. Also, Ramal had another report as well, one that was based on the last training exercise that his men carried out before they set off for Fort Drakon. Ramal had just managed to finish up the report just this morning. As Ramal was about to hand it over, Faldio noticed something off in the near distance. Alicia, who left the medical ward was now helping out Susie with the Squad's laundry. Alicia had just brought out a washed load of clothes while Susie went back in to check in on the rest.

"Just put it on my desk. I'll read it later," said Faldio, with Ramal replying by giving him a quick salute and heading back inside the fort. Meanwhile Faldio went over to talk to Alicia. And as Alicia was hanging the wet sheets and clothes on the clothes line, she started mumbling to herself in complete irritation about what was beginning to bother her these past few days.

"Ugh. Welkin just doesn't make any sense at all. I mean the whole country's going crazy with the invasion, the Squad's barely even working together, and he's too busy getting kissing with Lieutenant Read. I just can't believe this is happening. How in the world am I supposed to deal with this?" berated Alicia, wondering how all of this was even happening.

"Deal with what?" asked Faldio, standing right next to her and only managing to hear the last bit of her little talk.

"Like I said I-," started Alicia, not even paying attention to what was happening until she stopped midway in that sentence as she looked to see Faldio standing there and holding the last of the wet sheets from the basket.

"Need any help?" asked Faldio sincerely.

"No, I got it," responded a still irritated Alicia as she took the sheet and began to hang it up.

Faldio, crossing his arms, looked to her and stated "Looks like everyone's full of worries these days. If you want, I can listen to what's bothering you."

"I'm not in the mood," spat out Alicia. Once she was finished, she turned around and walked towards the door into the laundry room where Susie was in. Faldio watched as she walked away but then his eye wandered to the basket, seeing one small balled up white piece of clothing still in the basket. Picking it up, the cloth fit in the palm of his hand. He whistled for Alicia to turn around and look at him which she did. He showed her the balled up white piece of clothing he held in his right hand. He raised his arm back to throw it to her but just as he was about to, the wadded up piece of clothing un-wadded itself and revealing what it really was: a pair of girl's panties. More specifically...Alicia's panties.

Alicia's eyes bugged out and her face became red with embarrassment. She reacted quickly, grabbing them from Faldio and turning his back on him out of the sheer embarrassment she was feeling at the moment. Still holing the pair of panties in her hands, she quickly stuttered out "N-never mind that."

Not even fazed by the _very_ awkward event that had just happened, Faldio continued their previous conversation and quickly figured out what her problem was: Welkin. So without any further delay, he asked her "This is all about Welkin isn't it? He's whimsical, hard to understand, and a man who does things his way?"

Alicia turned around, having been spurned on by Faldio's question, and told him everything that she had been thinking about on the situation, saying "Yes! He just doesn't seem to regard anything! Whenever a General makes a humiliating comment on us, I'm sure he wouldn't think twice about it! When the Squad was at each other's throats at Vasel, he wanted to just let them fight it out! The guy's whimsical and he's air-headed! I never know what he's thinking at all and he does everything his way! Half the time I don't think he even knows what he's doing! And to top it all off, he seems to be-"

"But you still feel like he'd do anything for you and your unit if the need arose? Am I right?" inquired Faldio. The moment he said that, Alicia's irritation subsided as her facial expression changed completely. What Faldio said did have a point. In the short time that Alicia had known Welkin, there were times where she saw that he would do anything to keep the Squad safe or kept together, no matter what happened. It was one of the few good qualities about Welkin that she had noticed.

"It's like you said. You can't understand the man by logic. But you can also tell that he has more than just weak points. You could tell that by the way that he recaptured Vasel from the Germans. He's the guy who does what he needs to in order to complete the job,"explained Faldio, putting up a pretty convincing case. She did remember how Welkin had managed to retake Vasel despite the overwhelming odds set against them. And he did so while also doing it without losing any members of their squad and by avoiding Gallian High Command's costly and ill-conceived plan. Maybe there was some truth to this.

Faldio placed a hand on Alicia shoulder and suggested to her "You need to trust him. After all, you _are_ his second-in-command. He'll need your support in the days to come."

Without another word, he left Alicia, leaving her to ponder on what she had just heard.

* * *

**Well, this took a while. This was a hard chapter to write. Well at least you all know a few things here, the big one being the reason why Jack's engagement with Lara fell apart. And the last scene with Alicia and Faldio came from the VC anime, I just modified it a little. Also, as a final note, I've changed a little thing about Europa, mainly where Switzerland's loyalty lies.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	79. Moving on and Major Isabella von Damon

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_"After eavesdropping on Lara's confession to Daniel back in her office, I went back to the tavern to drown my sorrows. I haven't been that depressed since the say when she first broke off our engagement without saying a word as to why. Ever since that day, I thought if I found out that reason I'd have some sense of closure. So that I could put all of this behind me and finally get on with my life. Now I finally had the truth. But what I felt now...it wasn't anything that I thought I'd feel. This feeling...it wasn't closure. It was more like emptiness. I had the truth like I wanted...but it didn't make me feel any better. Hearing Lara's reasons seemed to just make me feel worse. And there I was in that tavern, drinking away my sorrows...again." -Jack Lawrence_

Sitting at the bar, Jack was deep in sorrow as he down the last bits of soda of his Coke-a-cola bottle, his second one so far. He never really had an affinity for alcohol...mainly because his father was very strict in telling him to never drink until he was much, much older. And in this war there wasn't much use for a drunken soldier that was high on drink and grief. At least the soda was a good second choice for moments like this. So now Jack decided that is he was going into a fight, he might as well go in all hyped on the caffeine. It sounded like a much better option than marching into battle drunk off his ass. When one is hyped, they tend to react quicker than usual. But when one was drunk...good luck with that.

As the bartender handed him another Coke out of pity for the poor man, seeing him being pretty depressed, Jack heard someone coming towards him. He slowly turned his head to the right and saw the last person that he wanted to see at the moment: Lara. She was standing a few feet from him with a nervous and quite remorseful look on her face that pretty much said that she wanted to talk to Jack but she was either too nervous to do so or she just didn't have the right words. Either way Jack didn't really want to talk to her at the moment. And there was practically nothing that she could say that would convince him otherwise. Except the fact that from what he could tell from her face, she was going to stand there no matter how many times Jack told her to leave. He pretty much surmised that he would have to hear her out...whether he wanted to or not.

With a deep sigh, Jack hesitantly asked in an annoyed voice "What do you want? Come to make my life worse than it is now?"

Lara slowly took a few steps forward and took a seat next to Jack, looked at him and said solemnly " Jack I...I want to apologize. Say I'm sorry."

Jack was taken aback by the words and his eyes widened is surprise. In all the time that he had known Lara, she had never once apologized for anything in her entire life, even when it was entirely her fault. Even when something went wrong and it was her fault that it happened she just instantly blamed it on him. It basically worked most of the time since it was Jack's influence that caused all hell to break loose. But still there were a few times that things went bad because of her and she just blamed it all on Jack's part. But for the first time that he ever known her, she's actually apologizing, and to him no less. He wasn't sure whether he should be glad about this or not. In the end he pretty much decided not to, instead returning back to the conversation.

"Oh really. And what are you sorry about? Sorry about all the times you insulted me, made my a living hell during the war, or breaking off my engagement and deciding not to tell me why?" spat back Jack, his voice full of anger.

"Well what do you want me to say? I'm sorry I never told you the truth. I'm sorry I never talked to you these past few months. Hell, I can go on all week to explain how sorry I am," shot back Lara, defending herself while apologizing at the same time...in her own way. As she continued, she ended up becoming more and more emotional, with tears once again beginning to form in her eyes. She rarely ever cried, with the last time being on the day she broke off her engagement to Jack. She cried for hours, more so than she would ever admit.

She continued her rant by saying "I wanted to tell you the truth but I just didn't know how to tell you. I worried about you every day since Anchorage. I thought that if I broke off the engagement I'd help save your sanity but I was wrong okay?! I was wrong and I'm sorry about it! All I'm asking is for a bloody chance to apologize to you okay?!"

Lara looked at Jack with desperation screaming off of her teary eyes. She was hoping that Jack would find it within his heart to forgive her for everything that she had done. However, her hopes would soon be dashed. Jack took one large gulp of his soda bottle before looking back at Lara and beginning to tirade her by sternly replying with "Two years, Lara. Two whole years of my life with you were thrown away because of you leaving me. I was a broken wreck when you left me. Just when I was ready to put the war behind me and move on with my life with you...you suddenly tell me that it's over and you never mention to me as to why! I spent all that time wondering if it was something that I had done that caused all of this!"

As Jack was going on with his rant, Lara was continuing to get more and more emotional. She had been hoping that Jack would be able to forgive her for all the shit that she had put him through ever since she broke off their engagement. Here she was, hoping that they could at least try and work this out and put this terrible episode behind them. And yet here Jack was berating her, letting all of his pent up feelings and thoughts that he kept inside of him and was just letting them out all at once. It was all the more clear to her that this was much more serious than she had originally thought.

"And after all of this time, I finally see you again after my father had to bail me out of a firing squad. And you know what the first thing you said was? You told me 'you look good'. That was all! Not a concern for my well being, not asking me how I've been these past few months, not even a goddamn apology! Taking _ALL_ of this into consideration why the hell should I be expected to forgive you now?!" cried out Jack as he got out of his seat and stormed out of the tavern. Lara was left there completely speechless as she suddenly broke down and started sobbing. And as she started crying and blaming herself for everything, the bartender slowly walked up to her and coughed to get her attention. Lara looked up and saw that he had placed an open and cold bottle of Coka-a-Cola in front of her, likely feeling sorry for the poor girl.

_"Making a grown woman cry and leaving her like that...not my finest moment there to be honest. Though to be quite fair I was the wounded party in this whole affair. But now that I think about it I may have come off kind of harsh back then. I'm normally not this mean to people unless they deserve it. Now I can see why Lara did what she did but back then I was just too hurt and upset about it. My mind wasn't thinking as clearly due to the range of emotions flooding through my system at the time. There was a bunch of times that I wished to redo that moment. Well I can honestly tell you that this was probably and without a doubt, not my finest moment." - Jack Lawrence_

* * *

Outside the tavern, Jack walked away, still stifling from his rant on Lara. As he moved to the courtyard by one of the main exits he suddenly and unexpected kicked at the nearest thing which happened to be a tin bucket. He did so out of pure frustration and the kick was so hard that it sent it flying into the side of a Gallian truck, scratching the paint on it. Grunting in frustration he sat down at a nearby bench placed beside a wall. As he sat there, he decided to try and cool off and try to move past this thing that just happened. A few minutes later as he sat there wallowing in his grief, he heard a voice speak to the left of him asking "Are you okay?"

Jack turns to his left to see that Isara was now sitting beside him with a concerned look on her face. Jack straightened himself up and admitted "Yeah. Had a bit of an...unpleasant conversation with Lara."

"I know, I could hear you from outside the Tavern," noted Isara.

"Was I really that loud?" asked Jack with Isara nodding in order to confirm it. Jack groaned as he leaned back against the wall.

"Do you want to talk about it?" inquired Isara, wondering if there was something she could do.

"Thanks for the notice but no. Honestly I think I have enough to worry about at this moment without my past coming back to haunt me," replied Jack. As he said that, he could instantly hear something else being carried throughout the air. It was the sound of voices coming from the distance. It was faint at first but slowly and surely it was getting louder and louder. It seemed however that Isara didn't notice because she just kept on talking.

"Okay well I was just wondering if-" said Isara, starting off before Jack covered her mouth with his hand, shutting her up in a heartbeat.

"Listen carefully kid, you hear this too?" questioned Jack. Isara did as he said and she too heard the voices. This time they were more clear, and it sounded like...singing. But it wasn't any kind of song one would find on the radio. It was a marching song for soldiers when they were on the move. And as the singing got louder and louder, the IVB troops in the courtyard began to take notice as well, with them halting whatever it was that they were doing and turning their heads towards the direction of the closed gate. This gate was facing towards the part of Gallia that was in friendly hands. And if the singing was coming from there, then it likely meant that there were troops heading towards the Ardennes as reinforcements. One of the IVB soldiers on the ramparts over the gate shouted out to his colleague down below 'Open the gate!'. And just like that, the soldier pulled on a lever which caused the large gates to open, clearing the way for whoever it was that was about to enter Fort Drakon. And marching into the fortress were lines of soldiers dressed in ceremonial dark blue uniforms and caps, with the same white markings and gold trims of that used by the Gallian Regulars but with slight variations. These guys were singing a marching song that they had adopted from the Americans.

_Over hill, over dale,_

_We will hit the dusty trail,_

_And those Caissons go rolling along._

_..._

_Up and down, in and out,_

_Counter march and left about,_

_And those Caissons go rolling along._

...

_For it's high high he,_

_In the Gallian Army,_

_Count your numbers loud and strong._

_..._

_For wher-e'er we go,_

_You will always know,_

_That those Caissons go rolling along._

About seven of these squares entered the courtyard and lined up in rows three wide and two deep with the seventh square stood in front and center. As they took up formation, Jack took a good look at these soldiers. They were well armed, seemingly well motivated, and wore the same gear and the same armored plating that the Gallian Militia wore as well. Their ages seem to range from their mid teens to about their early twenties. And another thing was that there was not a single Darcsen among them, showing another example of racial prejudice that prevailed in the country thanks to it's leaders. They had their weapons shouldered, and lined were lined up a five men wide and six men deep square formation with three men standing in front of each square. From the way they were dressed, Jack figured that they weren't exactly normal Gallian Regulars. And judging from the flag being carried by the lead square, it showed them that these weren't soldiers, but cadets from the Lanseal Royal Military Academy. Jack could tell that because the Lanseal flag was simply the Gallian flag with the Lanseal crest replacing the Randgriz coat of arms in the center.

From what Jack could remember from what Welkin and Faldio told him, the Lanseal Royal Military Academy was essentially the Gallian version of West Point. The academy was constructed in the late 1500's, just before the German conquest of Gallia. For a time it trained Gallians to serve as officers in the German _Wehrmacht_ until Gallia was freed from Nazi control. It was there that Gallia trained the country's best to become future military officers in the Gallian Armed Forces. They had their students separated into seven different classes labeled from A to G. Normally to find potential students, they sent people to personally scout local recruits but they also took in applications, though these students faced stricter standards to get it. Many of Gallia's High Command attended Lanseal, though their incompetence raises questions as to how they even graduated in the first place.

From what Jack read about the Academy recently, their seven classes were supposed to graduate this year but the war halted that. The cadets were then given a quick ceremony instead and were formed into a unit known as the Lanseal Battalion to be sent and fight on the front lines. However, they brought in a whole other wave of applicants into the school to fill the vacant seats. These students would soon be taught at the school while also serving as an auxiliary unit to defend the refugee camps set up in the Southern Gallia.

Moving past the formations of troops was a young woman, who seemed to be the leader of the Lanseal Battalion. She was Welkin's age, wore the dark blue tunic and black skirt with the white markings and gold trimmings of a Gallian Regular, also wearing a pair of fingerless black leather gloves and slim high heeled boots. Though she was only twenty two, her rank showed that she was a Major. Not the kind of rank you'd normally expect for someone of her age. To get this, the girl either had to be a very capable officer or she had family connections in very high places, though most likely it was the latter that was the explanation. She was fair skinned and had a good complexion. She had emerald green eyes as well as long black hair that she had tied into a bun and kept underneath her officer's cap. She wore a nice shade of red lipstick as well as an earring on her left ear. Around her belt she had a holstered Mauser C96 pistol and a sheathed cutlass with an elaborate handle that seemed to be gold platted. There was no doubt that the woman was gorgeous and quite honestly could turn boys heads as she walked on by them.

Beside her was a male Gallian Captain who Jack assumed was her second-in-command. As they stood at the head of their troops, the woman looked to her subordinate and instructed "Stay here with the troops. I'll check us in at the radio room."

"Aye ma'am. Understood," replied the Captain as he gave her a salute before she headed off.

By now, the battalion had gotten the attention every IVB soldier in the area, numbering dozens of them, and each one was looking at them as they wondered what this was all about. There were whispers among them as they all tried to figure it out on their own. Jack however, figured it out and he was pretty sure that Isara had the done the same. Being curious about why Lanseal cadets were even in the Ardennes in the first place instead of at the Central or Northern Fronts, Jack got up from his seat and walked on over to the Captain with Isara following close behind him. Once they stood directly in front of the Captain, Jack gestured to the cadets and asked bluntly and loud enough for all in the courtyard to hear "What's with the parade here?"

The IVB soldiers around him got a chuckle out of that. However, the Gallian Captain wasn't very amused by it. In response, he calmly stated "Sergeant. You're speaking to a superior officer. Your conduct is improper. Now please, turn around and try that again."

Jack didn't like how the snobby Captain was talking back at him. But he also saw an opportunity to have a little bit of fun with this. So he decided to play this game for a bit. Jack turned around, walked a few steps back, then quickly turned back around, and marched all the way back to the Captain. With Isara standing behind him, he saluted the Captain and said "Sergeant Jackson Alexander Lawrence reporting for duty."

"Very good. Now then, apprise me of the situation. Point by point preferably. First, second, then thirdly," instructed the Captain, smiling at Jack's new obedience. It was then that Jack decided to let him have it.

"Yes Captain. Firstly...I don't give a damn who the hell you are," said Jack, savoring every moment of this. The Captain's smile vanished immediately and the IVB soldiers suddenly laughed at Jack's audacity. In a split second, he had made the man look like a complete idiot with a single punchline. This was going to be pretty entertaining for them so they kept on looking to see what would happen next.

"Secondly mate, I'm not in your army as evident by my lack of blue clothing. That means I don't take orders from you. Thirdly...just who the hell are you supposed to be anyway?" asked Jack, pointing out the obvious to the Captain in his first comment and wanting to know precisely who it is that he was dealing with.

The Captain immediately snapped back, pointing out to him and the cadets while barking "I'm the Captain of the Lanseal Battalion. Six feet tall, hand picked, the nation's finest! You're looking at the Regular Army's elite here Sergeant!"

Jack didn't care who he was. And showing up with an small army of military cadets didn't exactly raise his standing with Jack. In fact, it wouldn't impress anyone in this fortress for that matter. This was because the soldiers he and his superior brought with are just cadets, students. Not actual soldiers. These cadets experiences in warfare only extended to war games played out as combat drills between the classes. They had no idea what real combat would be like. And they were going to find out about it real fast once they headed towards the front lines. And if they didn't adapt real quick, they would get wiped out real quickly. Jack, voicing this opinion, walked up and down the line of Lanseal cadets as he expressed it out loud.

"And why should we even care who these guys are? This isn't Randgriz Boulevard. We aren't having a parade. I mean look at these guys. Six feet tall! Does that mean we have to dig two story trenches now? We don't need them. Mole rats, snakes, and circus dwarfs would be better! Guys who can snake through the trenches, not the goddamn army's elite!" criticized Jack aloud so that all could hear him. When it came to the comment about the trenches, he squatted down slightly imitating what he said. And many times he gestured to the cadets during his tirade. All the while, Isara and the rest of the IVB soldiers in the courtyard were laughing at his speech and at the Captain's expense. Jack, seeing this, kept on going by gesturing to them and saying "Never mind them! They don't care if they die cause they got nothing left to lose! But we are going to stick your 'elite', huh? There's a war going on if you haven't noticed Captain."

The Captain, simply unfazed, looked at Jack and commented "Enough, you don't scare me _Sergeant_. Perhaps when you see them all in battle-"

"What battle Captain? You'd just hope that the your boss and the nation's finest here don't shit their pants and run at the sight of a German Panzer division," interrupted Jack, further contradicting the Gallian officer. Jack circled around the officer till he stood opposite from where he was when this whole conversation started.

"You ought to show some respect Sergeant. My boss isn't friendly when it comes to people disrespect her. So I think you should try and end this little show when she comes back," noted the Captain, crossing his arms.

This however didn't stop Jack from countering with "I don't care if your boss is Princess Cordelia herself. There is nothing you can say or that she can do that would impress _me_. I've met _way_ more interesting people in my life than your boss trust me. I can you that-"

Jack was about to continue but soon, Jack looked to see Isara standing behind the officer, looking quite alarmed and doing a throat slash gesture with her hand faced flat and rapidly going back and forth across her throat, signalling for Jack to simply shut the hell up right now. It didn't take long for Jack to figure out what Isara was trying to tell him. Apparently she saw the Major walking back during the last few lines of this conversation. Right now she was standing right behind Jack with her arms crossed, and staring right at Jack just waiting for him to turn and face her. With a meek look on his face, Jack pointed with his thumb over his shoulder and asked "The Major's right behind me isn't she Isara?"

Isara's nodding head was all that Jack needed to confirm this. With dread in every movement, he slowly turned around to see the Major. Once he had turned around she merely asked him "Are you done now Sergeant?"

"Uh, how much of this whole thing did you hear?" asked Jack, a little worried now.

"Oh I heard every word. You guys weren't exactly quiet," replied the Major.

"He means well. He's just...very blunt," said Isara, walking up to Jack and standing beside him while also trying to have his back in this situation.

Using Isara's words as support, Jack said "Well...yeah pretty much. Let's try this again shall we? My Darcsen compatriot is Isara Gunther from Squad 7. I'm-"

"Sergeant Jackson Alexander Lawrence. Formerly a Captain in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army. Served throughout the Soviet-American War from 1932 to 1934. You're the youngest of five children, your father is the Secretary of State and your mother is the head doctor of the biggest hospital in America that's located directly in New York City. You attended the University of Randgriz since August of last year before enlisting in the Gallian Militia in March. From there you served in the 3rd Militia Regiment's Squad 7 under the command of Lieutenant Welkin Gunther. You've participated in the assault on Vasel, two skirmishes against the _SS_ Lieutenant Iohan Comescu, and in a fight against the Germans at a scrapyard along the Randgriz-Ardennes rail line. As of a few days ago, you've been reinstated in the U.S. Army but with the rank of Sergeant and you're still part of Squad 7 as it's Quartermaster but also as the military liaison with the Gallian Militia," summed up the Major in a nutshell.

Her words surprised Jack and Isara who's eyes widened with both of them looking at each other and then back to the Major. She had just summed up Jack and his history pretty quickly and with such accurate details. Jack was even more bewildered as he tried to figure out how it was possible that she could have known all of that. Several possibilities for that flooded his mind, though each of them seemed less than likely. The only one that might have made sense was if he and the Major had met back in the past, though honestly he was pretty damn sure that he and her had never met before until this day. So now he and Isara were standing there as they tried to figure out how it was even possible for her to even know about all of this information.

"Are you like the female version of Sherlock Holmes or something? If not then congratulations you've nailed his methods of analysis down completely," joked Jack. To his surprise, the Major actually found that funny and giggled a little bit at that joke.

"Well no. I'm not the 'female Sherlock Holmes', however I am a fan of Arthur Doyle's books on him," corrected the Major.

"Okay then. Other than that how exactly do you know so much about Jack?" inquired Isara, wanting an answer for this.

"I've read a lot about you. As well as the members of Squad 7. You're activities make for quite an interesting read," she answered.

"Have we met before?" asked Isara.

"Persoanlly no. But you all have met my father. And I apologize for that," said the Major.

"Just who is your dad anyway?" asked Jack, curious as to where this was going.

"My full name is Isabella von Damon. My father is General Damon," answered Isabella.

_"Before this moment I thought that there was absolutely nothing that could surprise me. And at this very moment...that belief was shot to a million little pieces. The young Major standing right in front of me was the daughter of the man who a few days ago tried to frame me as a German spy and be shot by a firing squad. But what shocked me the most was the fact that he actually had a daughter...that the fat son of a bitch had actually reproduced. And I was just as surprised by the fact that his daughter, who was the exact same age as Welkin, was a Major instead of Lieutenant. And just like that...the universe seemed to simply make things more and more interesting for us all." - Jack Lawrence_

"Damon? The same big, fat, fellow who's all high and mighty, looks down on everyone, has a big plume on his hat that's as big as his ego? That Damon?" questioned Jack, still surprised by the fact that General Damon actually has a kid.

"Sadly yes. That's my father," confirmed Isabella.

Looking to Isara, he asked her "Did you know that Damon had a kid?"

Isara simply shook her head, answering Jack's question completely. However, just before they could go any further into this conversation, a British soldier wearing glasses, carrying a lot of gear, his cap all worn out, and covered in soot, walked over to them and asked "You Sergeant Lawrence and Corporal Gunther?"

"Yeah, that's us," replied Isara.

"Major Blackadder wants to see you two. Your Squad's got a new mission. Follow me," said the soldier. Without another word, both Isara and Jack followed him, but mostly to get out of this awkward conversation. Hopefully, the next time they met Major Isabella von Damon that it would be a lot less awkward than it was then. But there was one thing for sure, when they told the others of what had happened here, they would have the exact same reaction as they did.

* * *

_Fort Drakon War Room_

In the war room of Fort Drakon, Major Blackadder had called together Welkin, Alicia, Largo, and Rosie together to discuss about a mission that required their attention. Currently the four members of Squad 7 were seated around the war table with Blackadder standing at the end near a large map which showed a region of Southern Gallia that he would use to explain the mission. With their forces spread so thin in the region, he needed someone that he could trust to accomplish this mission, and Squad 7 was the only unit available for battle as Blackadder had just sent Faldio and Squad 1 over to another town on the front lines to help the IVB troops hold it there. He was just waiting for his man Private Baldrick to arrive with Jack and Isara before they could start with the briefing for the mission. And about a minute later, Bladrick came back in with the two late additions to their meeting. As Jack and Isara took their seats, with Jack sitting next to Largo and Roise, and Isara siting next to Alicia and Welkin, Jack commented "Sorry we're late, but you won't believe who we just met a while ago."

"Well you can explain it to us after this meeting kid," commented Largo.

Seeing that the last two members of the meeting was now assembled, Blackadder was about to begin when he noticed something hanging around Baldrick's neck. Calling it out, Blackadder asked "Baldrick, why is there a bullet hanging around your neck?"

"I carved something on it sir," replied Baldrick, holding the bullet in his hand.

"And what pray tell did you carve on it?" inquired Blackadder, with a due sense of dread.

"I carved 'Baldrick' sir. It's all part of a cunning plan actually," explained Baldrick, looking a little chipper when he said that.

"Of course it is," replied Blackadder, his tone implying he's heard that line before.

"Because you know how they say that somewhere there's a bullet with your name on it? Well I thought that if I _owned_ the bullet with my name on it, I'd never get hit by it cause I won't ever shoot myself," explained Bladrick, going through his little formula for why he did this.

"Oh shame," said Blackadder sarcastically.

"And also the chances of there being two bullets with my name on them are very small indeed," added Baldrick.

"Yes well that's not the only thing in this room that's very small indeed. Your brain for example, is so small that if a hungry cannibal cracked your head open there wouldn't be enough inside to cover a small water biscuit. Now would you please leave? I have some business to discuss with these gents here," said Blackadder, criticizing Baldrick who didn't raise an objection at all, he just saluted Blackadder and left the room, closing the door behind him as he left.

Rosie, summing up what she just saw, asked the Major "Not the brightest bulb in the British Army huh?"

"Sadly yes. But other than that, I suppose you're wondering why I brought you all in here correct?" questioned Blackadder.

"Yeah. You brought us here during lunch so is it okay if we move this along? I'm starving," commented Largo.

"Ugh, you always get snippy the minute your stomach rumbles Largo," pointed out Alicia, as she pinched her brow in annoyance.

"Considering that I'll try to make this short. I trust that many of you have been aware of the recent hike in food prices for the past few weeks?" asked Blackadder. Everyone in the room knew what he was talking about. Since the war began, Gallia began to have it's citizens ration food in order to conserve what they had as the Germans continued to advance further and further into Gallia. But lately they've been getting much higher as people were having trouble getting the food they needed to feed themselves and their families as well. And it seemed that less food was managing to reach the capital to be distributed throughout the civilian population and the Gallian forces on the front lines.

"I do remember one worker in the mess hall back at Fort Amaranthine mentioning that produce prices were rising," informed Isara.

"The Germans are the reason for that. Much of the outskirts of the Ardennes forest are under their control. We only have control over a small portion of it. Apparently a force of Germans has taken hold of a trade route farmers use to ship their stocks to the capital. They've blockaded the route and any farmer that tries to past them has their food seized by the Germans who send it back to their own forces," explained Blackadder, informing them of the situation.

Largo, who seemed to be pretty angered at this, slammed his fist onto the table and angrily asked "What did you just say?"

Rosie on the other hand, seemed more calm than Largo and jokingly said "Ah. 'Vegetable Crisis Grips Gallia'. Not a very exciting headline."

"You mocking the power of vegetables?!" claimed Largo, turning his head to face Rosie.

"What? I was just...what's your problem?!" cried Rosie, wondering what she had done to cause Largo to be so upset.

"Vegetables are like bombs packed tight all kinds of important nutrients! Kids got to eat 'em to grow up right...and the body's practically made of vegetables!" shouted Largo, making his point real clear to Rosie. Apparently this was a side that many didn't know about Largo whom many hadn't seen as well: he had a serious love for vegetables.

"Which are like bombs?" asked Rosie, still a little shocked by Largo's sudden outburst.

"In any case, as long as the Germans control that trade route, less food is reaching Gallian forces and the civilians in Randgriz. And the longer they control it, the more food they'll be able to seize. They've tasked us to clear the trade route of any German troops blockading it. However, we're just as spread thin as the rest of the Gallian Military so I could only send a small team to the site of the blockade to keep watch over it. So you six will be heading there as well. You'll meet up with this time and conduct a stealth operation at night to eliminate the blockade so that the capital can get that food. Am I understood?" explained Blackadder as he went over the final details of this mission with them.

Cracking his knuckles, Largo said enthusiastically "All right! Time to put the fear of veggies into these krauts!"

"The fear of veggies? Is he serious?" questioned Alicia, at this point still bewildered about Largo's attitude to this.

"I have a strange feeling that he is," summed up Jack.

* * *

**All right. Got a few notes to tell you some things. First of all, many of you are probably surprised by my introduction of Isabella von Damon, General Damon's kid. I looked up on the Valkyria Chronicles wiki and it did mention him having a daughter. It didn't go into detail about it, so I pretty much made up everything about her...including her name. I can tell you a few more things about her for those who are curious.**

**_1._ She is the exact and bloody opposite of her father in terms of personality and competence.**

**_2._ She is a Lanseal graduate and graduated just before the war began. Which explains why she's leading these cadets.**

**_3._ She was originally commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Gallian Regulars, but her father used his influence to make her a Major, two major ranks above Lieutenant. He did this despite the fact that she didn't want it.**

**Another thing for those who may have watched Blackadder is the bullet scene between Blackadder and his soldier, Baldrick, is a reference to the show. A while ago someone asked me if this would appear in this story so I put it in just for him.**

**Also, the ceremonial uniform the Lanseal cadets wear under their armor is basically a different design to what they wear in Valkyria Chronicles 2. It's more closely designed to be similar to the Gallian Regular Army uniforms of this war.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	80. Largo's Passion

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_April 22, 1935_

_Small Village in Southern Gallia_

_1948 hours (7:48 pm)_

In Southern Gallia, it remained mostly free from the German conquest while the North and half of Central Gallia were not so lucky. In the South, farmers continued to work to produce food that would become distributed among the military, the civilians, and those living in the refugee camps near the major city of Brussels. Occasionally the Germans sent a few Stuka's to bomb a few sights as well as send a small force of infantry to raid villages and towns outside the Ardennes Forest. They were met mainly with resistance from the local town watch and partisans. This was all the Germans met since their offensive had spread the Gallian military pretty thin. And the Germans made good use of it, striking deep into enemy territory. One such strike, caused them to take control of a small village that sat on a vital crossroads that connects to the Gallian capital of Randgriz.

The village consisted of a dozen two story buildings placed on one side of the crossroads with a hill on another side overlooking the town and with a small forest on the final side of the crossroads. The Germans had set up a blockade here to halt the farmers from shipping their food to Randgriz. So far they have been pretty successful as no one had come to drive them out. And from their entrenched position, they stopped every convoy of food that was sent their way, forcing the farmers at gunpoint to be relieved of their goods before having the farmers flee and sending back the food to the German lines via trucks. This act deprived the Gallians of much need food and if it wasn't cleared anytime soon, the Gallian Army was going to starve to death once they ran out of rations. And for the food shipments to come back in, the Germans would have to be expelled from the town entirely.

The German presence in the town only consisted of a platoon of forty-five soldiers, but they had enough firepower to back them up. At the intersection of the crossroads, the Germans installed two Panzer III's to keep an eye out for any incoming vehicles and stop them if possible. The Panzer III's were the main German tanks in the 1920's until they were replaced by more advanced models such as the Panzer IV, Tiger, and Panther tanks. It was then removed from front line duties and placed in reserve. The Germans now use them for secondary duties against less powerful foes as well as dealing with rebels in urban warfare situations. The tank is armed with a long barreled 50mm main cannon with two MG42's with one placed in the hull and one in the turret. It was also protected by about two inches of armor, obsolete by modern standards.

Even with these outdated tanks, it gave the Germans a boatload of firepower over the local partisans and town watch volunteers. The Germans had also set up an MG emplacement on the side of the hill with the machine gun placed on a tripod and covered under a large white sheet. The emplacement was dug into the side of the hill and surrounded with sandbags to provide additional protection. It was positioned so that it could over look the town as well as the crossroads in order to be most useful. The Germans had also set up a sniper's nest inside one of the buildings as well. And to help them manage guarding the place at night, they kept the lights working and placed lit lanterns around the place to add additional light. Finally, they had set up two searchlights, one in a building and one in the machine gun emplacement, so that they could keep an eye on whoever entered came down the roads. All in all, the Germans had set up quite a grip on this town and were in no hurry to abandon it to the Gallian military.

Ad hidden in the dark of the forest, the small British unit of five soldiers lead by Natasha, whom Major Blackadder had sent along with these soldiers to watch the Germans, waited in the darkness of the forest alongside the main members of Squad 7 who had arrived an hour ago. While they were all there they managed to survey the German defenses and thanks to the lights and the lit lanterns it was pretty easy to tell what the Germans had. Even though it was less than what they've usually faced, with their smaller numbers, they would have to be extra careful so that they would be able to succeed...and live.

"So the bastards blocking our veggies are here huh? Let's go bust some heads," said Largo enthusiastically.

Welkin immediately covered Largo's mouth and whispered "Shh, be quiet! Do you want them to hear us? This is a stealth operation with just a few soldiers. Every one we lose will bring this mission that much closer to failure."

Taking Welkin's hand off his mouth, Largo simply replied with "Yeah I got it. Now let's go get violent for vegetables!"

"Largo, do you want to work with me here? Well let's just try to do this quietly?" asked Welkin, trying to make his point very clear to him.

"This is going to be anything but quiet Welkin. Once those tanks are out of commission then all hell's gonna break loose," notified Jack.

"He's got a point. We'll need to set up a good position before we knock out those tanks in order to have a good chance of finishing this mission," added Natasha.

As she heard that, they heard the sounds of vehicles coming up one of the roads. They turned to that direction and say the headlights of three Opel Blitz trucks loaded with stolen food heading for the blockade. They stopped in front of a Panzer III with two German soldiers armed with Kar98k's walked up to the trucks, the spotlight shining down on them as they moved, keeping them and the first truck lit. The Germans were going to do a quick inspection of each truck, checking the papers of the Germans soldiers to make sure they weren't partisans, and they would check the backs of the trucks to make sure they weren't carrying anything else than produce. This was standard procedure to make sure that the garrison here didn't get caught in a surprise attack. These procedures are what makes sneaking into Nazi outposts and bases all the more difficult. But if one plays their cards right, they can slip inside.

Taking advantage of this distraction, Natasha and her British soldiers quickly and quietly moved out of the forest and crossed the road behind the trucks. Once they crossed the road they hid behind one of the buildings, out of sight of the German troops. Seeing that their comrades have succeeded, Squad 7 moved to do the same thing. They needed to do it fast as the two Germans were beginning to approach the final truck. If they didn't move soon, then they would be spotted and the whole mission would be blown. So without a moment's hesitation, they quickly dashed across the road in single file, just barely managing to make it behind the building.

One of the Germans heard them moving but didn't turn around fast enough to see them. Sensing that something was off, he grabbed a Ragnite lantern strapped to his belt, lit it and slowly moved further down the road, holding a pistol in his free hand as he searched for what made that noise. The group hid behind the building, not making a sound as one of the British soldiers peeked around the corner to monitor where the German was. When the German moved towards them, the British soldier ducked behind the corner and readied his knife in case they needed to kill the German. And as the German slowly neared closer to them, it seemed likely that he would be their first kill of the night. However, just as it seemed like the group would be found, the German simply turned around and walked back to the trucks. It appeared that since he had found nothing, he felt that it was safe to return to the trucks.

Breathing a sigh of relief, everyone's mind went back to the mission at hand. Natasha, standing next to Welkin, whispered to him the plan she managed to cook up, saying "Here's what we'll do. Me and my men will sneak into the building with the sniper's nest and take it out. Once we're in position we'll take out the tanks and the machine guns. With them out of the way, we'll mop up the rest of the infantry and bring that food back to Fort Drakon where they'll ship it off to the boys on the front."

"All right then. We can do that. You guys got that?" asked Welkin, looking at his team. All of them nodded their heads in agreement but when Jack looked behind him to see if Largo agreed as well, he wasn't there. Jack scratched his head in confusion. Largo was there a few minutes ago when they crossed the road, and now he just pulled a 'Houdini' and disappeared. Jack didn't know exactly where he was, but he had a pretty good idea as to what he was about to do: beat up the Nazis who were about to steal more vegetables.

With a sigh, Jack turned back, pointed behind him, and informed Welkin "I think Largo changed the plan...and that's a shock."

Suddenly they heard a large explosion coming from the center of the crossroads. It was likely from one of the Panzer III's being hit in the rear Ragnite radiator which resulted in their detonation. And that could of only happened if Largo, armed with his Lancaar-M4 had attacked it. Their suspicions were confirmed when one of the Germans shouted out _'ALARM!'_, and a siren went off, alerting the rest of the garrison here to the group's presence. Whatever chance they had at doing this quietly had just gone down the drain. And it was all thanks to Largo and his revealed love for veggies. And as the sounds of gunfire began to be heard, they could hear Largo shouting out loud "You stole veggies krauts! Now it's time to pay!"

"Well I think it's safe to say that the Germans know we're here now," commented Jack, pointing out the obvious.

"Thanks for the newsflash Yank. You militia grunts just blew everything," uttered one of the British soldiers, looking at the members of Squad 7 and chastising them. Now that the Germans were clued into their presence, this mission just got a whole lot more difficult.

"Either way we need to do something quick and salvage this little mission. Got any ideas Lieutenant?" inquired Natasha.

It didn't take long for Welkin to come up with a plan, as he said "You and your men go and occupy the snipers' nest and provide cover fire from the windows. My troops and I will split up and pairs and spread out, keeping the Germans occupied."

Natasha and her soldiers nodded in agreement and everyone immediately went off to carry out their part of the plan. After Natasha and her British soldiers moved towards the building the sniper was in, the rest of Squad 7 moved out to keep the Germans distracted. Welkin and Alicia moved towards the crossroads, Rosie went off to find Largo and back him up, while Jack and Isara went to the other side of the village. Almost immediately as the Gallians went out of cover, they immediately came under fire from German troops who were pretty eager to wipe out this small force.

Rosie managed to find Largo taking cover behind a wrecked car, reloading his Lancaar-M4 as two Germans armed with MP-40's fired away at him. Rosie, looking to help, fired a few short bursts with her Mags-M4 as she rushed over to Largo. She managed to take out one of the Germans before she took cover beside Largo. Once she was next to him, she asked him "Isn't the American the one who's supposed to be crazy? Why did you just blow our cover over a bunch of vegetables?!"

"I told you. No one has the right-" started Largo with his rant before Rosie interrupted him by holding her hand in front of his face, indicating that Largo should just shut up.

"You know what, I don't care. Let's just clear out these bastards and get this mission over with. You got any rockets left for that Lance of yours?" said Rosie, wondering if Largo still had a few shots left that they could use to take out the remaining Panzer III. Largo pulled out a single rocket, indicating that he still had a shot at taking out the German tank. With that in mind, Rosie gave Largo some covering fire as they moved to a different position. Seeing the two Gallian units retreating, several more Germans moved forward as they gave chase into the town.

* * *

In the middle of the town, as the Gallians were keeping the German infantry distracted, Natasha and her British troops moved quickly and quietly into the building housing the sniper before closing the door behind them. Even with the door closed, they could still hear the sounds of gunfire coming from outside. Heading upstairs, Natasha pulled out her De Lisle carbine that was provided for the mission. It was a rifle developed by the British military in use for covert operations. The shortened rifle had the bolt action of the Lee-Enfield rifle, a detachable magazine holding seven .45 caliber pistol rounds, and it's barrel was enlarged as it was made to be internally suppressed. This way, when the rifle was fired, it would be so quiet that enemy units wouldn't be able to hear it fire...unless one moved the bolt to load in another shot. Even so, this weapon was ideal for stealth missions and for taking out enemy units quietly.

So with her weapon, she slowly and quietly moved up the stairs, her troops readying their weapons and closely following her. The British troops were armed with three Lee-Enfield rifles, one Sten sub-machine gun, and one Bren light machine gun, which was the standard one of the British Armed Forces. When Natasha entered the second floor, she quickly noticed the German sniper wearing forest camouflage and armed with a scoped Kar98k rifle as he looked through the window, scanning for any signs of the members of Squad 7 fighting outside. So far he only managed to fire a couple of pot shots at them as they mainly moved through the streets faster than he could acquire them as targets. He would be rushed to pull the trigger, and would miss them. He was waiting for just one of them to stand still long enough for him to get one of them.

He wouldn't get that chance though. Because the moment that Natasha took aim, she gave a quick whistle to gain his attention. The German sniper turned to see Natasha, but before he could do anything she pulled the trigger, putting a bullet right through his head. The German slumped down onto the ground as Natasha moved towards his position. Through a series of quick hand movements she instructed her soldiers to take up positions around the floor. The ones with the rifles and the machine gun moved to the windows while the one with the Sten stood guard by the stairs in case the Germans decided to come in and take them out. With her troops now in position, they all fired upon the Germans below, helping Squad 7 as much as they could.

* * *

Back on the ground, Jack and Isara were taking potshots at German troops at the road while taking cover from behind a small wall of sandbags. From their position they've managed to take out at least five German soldiers. Three were attributed to Isara firing her Gallian Mauser 1889 rifle, and two attributed to Jack from his M5A2 Folsom Carbine given to him by Daniel before the mission. After Jack did a quick reload of the rifle, he took aim at another German soldier and fired, killing him with two shots to the chest.

"New York says 'Hi' you kraut bastard!" shouted Jack with a defiant laugh as he kept firing away at the Germans. However, he would have little time to celebrate. Three of the Germans headed into the machine gun emplacement and jumped in. They pulled off the white sheet covering the machine gun and revealed that it wasn't a simple MG42, but something worse: A Troika heavy machine gun.

The Troika was a recent addition to the German military, having entered service in 1930 and first used during the Border Skirmishes. It was a weapon with two MG42's connected together on a mount with them being able to be fired simultaneously by a single trigger placed in between the guns. There was also a thin bullet shield attached to them in between the feed system and the beginning of the barrel, protecting the gunner but also providing a firing slit to allow the gunner to shoot. The MG42's however were different in design to the barrel shroud as it was more circular and enlarged, the same size as the shrouds of Maxim machine guns, with the air holes more circular and symmetrical as well. The two hundred and fifty round magazine cans connected to the machine guns on the both sides of the turret, with one connected on the left to feed the left gun and one on the right to feed the right gun. And the empty shell cases exited from the bottom of the guns since it wasn't possible for the shells to come out the usual way. The weapon was designed to be operated by three men, with one man operating the machine gun with the other two men carrying the ammo and the tripod for the weapon. When operated properly, the Troika could fire at least two thousand rounds per minute, faster than any weapon that existed at the time. The weapon was designed to be used for defensive emplacements. The Germans made them in big numbers but not as large as the MG42. The Troika was twice as expensive to make as the standard MG42 and it's weight made it only useful as a defensive weapon. But either way, this was one gun you didn't want to be facing.

Within a matter of seconds, the three German soldiers managed to load the weapon and prepared to take aim at the enemy troops. Jack, noticing the weapon reacted quickly. He grabbed Isara by her shawl and pulled her with him as they piled into a nearby building as quick as they could. They just managed to get in before the Troika opened fire, peppering them with an enormous amount of firepower. The bullets impacted the walls of the building and through the window, devastating the inside of the building. Isara and Jack took cover behind the wall and stayed away from the windows to avoid being hit by the incoming enemy fire. It was apparent that they wouldn't be able to do much else to help as they were now effectively pinned down. All that they could do was to wait for the Germans to run out of ammunition so that they could do something to counter it.

"Have I ever mentioned how much that I hate the Nazis?!" shouted out Jack as they were still pinned down.

"Yeah. You have...multiple times," commented Isara.

"Well now you know why. The Germans seem to have all the good shit!" added Jack, commenting about the Troika currently firing at them.

"I think you and I can make it to the trucks if we made a run for it," notified Isara, noticing earlier how close they were to the trucks.

"Let's try and do this stealthy. I hate to have Nazi bullets all over me when we did this," suggested Jack as they slowly made their way to the door. As they did that, a series of three precise shots managed to take out the German gunner and his two accomplices. Since they didn't hear another gunshot other than the Germans Troika blasting at them, Jack pretty much summed up that it was Natasha that was responsible for taking them out. And with the Troika silenced, it made Jack and Isara's job that much easier.

* * *

Meanwhile, near the crossroads, Alicia and Welkin were being shot at from two different sides. Currently the two of them were in a short alley with the Germans advancing from both sides. Welkin and Alicia had positioned themselves on either side of the alley and fired upon the German troops as they tried to advance. So far, it was the two of them against what looked like four German soldiers and an officer: two on Alicia's side and the remaining three coming on Welkin's side. Curently, the tow on Alicia's side were getting closer and closer to her position. They were keeping Alicia pinned behind a steel oil drum as they advanced. However, when they got pretty close, a sudden burst of gunfire struck them both, killing them before they even hit the ground. Alicia peeked out from cover to see who it was and she saw Rosie and Largo heading towards them.

Entering the alley, they joined up with Welkin and Largo reported to him "Most of the Germans are down boss. Just a few left."

"Then let's clear out the remaining units here and leave the place," said Welkin as he reloaded a fresh clip of ammunition into his Gallian-M4 rifle. As he did so, they heard a rumbling noise coming straight towards them. Looking around the corner, they saw the remaining Panzer III along with the few soldiers that remained. They were attempting to use their remaining heavy weapon to take down their attackers, this time for good. Largo acted without hesitation, loading his Lancaar and marching out into the open, in full view of the German troops. He took aim with the Lance and fired it with the Germans thirty yards away. The German officer managed to jump out of the way into a nearby alley when he saw it but the rest of his troops weren't so lucky. The rocket from Largo's lance pierced the two inch front armor of the Panzer III and detonated, destroying the tank. The resulting shock wave and shrapnel killed the troops around it. With the remaining German troops dead, the town was now officially under Gallian control once again.

And with that, Largo let out a shout, saying "And that was for the veggies you stole!"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the trucks, Jack and Isara were checking on the cargo. they were filled to the brim in the first two with boxes of fruit with the third one having not as many boxes. Isara jumped inside the back of the truck while Jack stood right at the back, checking any boxes that he could open. Opening one box, Jack found it filled with bananas. Picking up one, he looked to Isara and asked her in bewilderment "Where the hell did the Germans find a bunch of bananas in Gallia?"

"I don't know. Aren't there farmers that grow bananas?" asked Isara, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah...in South America. Gallia doesn't exactly scream 'banana climate' here. In fact, I'm wondering where this came from in the first place," pointed out Jack.

Before Jack could ponder that, he heard the click of a gun. He turned to his right to see the surviving German officer holding a Luger pistol pointed straight at Jack's head at point blank range. Jack slowly turned and raised his hands as if to surrender, still clutching the banana in his hand. The officer seemed like he was desperate at this point and felt a little proud that he managed to catch one of the attackers off his guard. When he saw the banana in Jack's hand, he looked confused and this question came out "Wait. You did all this...for fruit?"

"No!...Okay maybe a little," said Jack, looking back between the German officer and the banana in his hand. Before anyone could say anything else, a watermelon suddenly flew from the back of the truck and struck the German officer in the head, shattering and knocking the German down hard onto the ground. The officer was knocked out from the blow as he didn't seem to move after he landed upon the ground. Seeing himself no longer in any immediate danger, Jack lowered his arms and looked inside the truck to see Isara standing over an opened crate of watermelons, indicating that she was the one that threw it.

Seeing Jack's look of surprise, she simply stated "It was either the melon or the box."

Not a few moments later, the rest of Squad 7 met up with the two of them as Natasha and her men went about searching the town for anything of military value. Seeing the unconscious German officer, Welkin looked to Jack for an answer. All Jack did was point to Isara, now holding another watermelon in case the German woke up again. Welkin, seeing the vast scores of farm produce in the trucks commented "That should end our vegetable shortage. At east now the farmers can deliver them without the Germans stealing it from them."

"Ha ha. Hey, um boss, did I ever tell you that my old man's a farmer? Feels good to know I'm helping farm folk out. While I was growing up on the farm, I was always helping with the harvest, out there in the field. And I'm serious when I say veggies are king too. The more you eat, the healthier you get!" said Largo, explaining his past. It all seemed to add up. It did explain why Largo was acting the way he did and why he seemed so passionate about what the Germans were doing here. Being part of a family of farmers, Largo would have been angry for a good reason. A farmer's produce is how they make their living, and they don't take to kindly to people stealing it from them.

" I agree. A lot of nutrients vegetables offer can't be found anywhere else. Plus, I feel like vegetables are a way to take in the power of nature as a whole," added Welkin, now bringing nature into the conversation.

The moment he did so, Jack instantly groaned as he could see where this was going: another one of Welkin's 'nature talks'. Not looking forward to listening to it again, He gestured for Isara to help him drag the unconscious German officer over to the forward truck so that they could put him inside and interrogate him when he woke up...when he would get over the headache he'd be feeling. An as they were dragging the officer away by the feet, Alicia and Rosie went into the village to help Natasha and her men, leaving Largo and Welkin alone at the truck. Once they were alone, Largo started the conversation back up by asking Welkin "So the 'power of nature' huh?"

"Yeah! Plants grow by absorbing energy from the sun, the soil, even tiny microbes. Eating vegetables is like getting all that natural energy right at the source," explained Welkin, happy to go over how he saw this. Almost immediately, Largo just busted out laughing.

"Gah ha ha ha ha! Never heard veggies told quite like that before. I tell ya boss you got your head on right! Ya got my mark!" complimented Largo, giving Welkin a soft punch in the arm as a badge of honor. Knowing that he had Largo's support was a big deal for Welkin.

"Well thanks Largo. That means a lot to me," responded Welkin, rubbing his arm a bit where Largo punched him.

"Hey boss...let me tell you this stupid dream I have. My folks' old farm went under, but I want to start it up again, as an organic veggie farm. Funny, huh? Big macho man goes from flinging bullets to being king of the carrot patch," admitted Largo, rubbing the back of his head for a moment as he was a little ashamed to admit this. He had been in the Militia since he was just fifteen when he volunteered back in 1914 at the onset of the Great War. Most people saw him as the gruff and veteran soldier, not as a simple farmer. This wasn't exactly something that he was pretty open about.

"I'm not laughing. If you're dedicated, I'm sure you'll grow some fine vegetables. Once you're all set up and harvesting, you'll have to let me sample what you've grown," said Welkin.

"Boss, you'd be welcome to eat all you want. _But_, you'd have to help with the harvest! And out on the farm, I'M squad leader. Be ready for the workout of your life!" assured Largo, letting Welkin know full and well that he wasn't just going to let him sample his food without sweating a little through some hard work.

Welkin, now feeling he just walked into that one, could only pinch his brow before commenting "Oh boy."

With another bout of laughter, Largo grabbed a whole crate of vegetables before proclaiming "Ah ha ha ha! I'm feeling good today! Veggies for all!"

* * *

_Meanwhile, on the Eastern shore of Lake Graz_

Viewing the walled city from the outskirts of the forest, a German artillery Sergeant along with Captain Aada Schnee surveyed it through his binoculars. He was looking for enemy forces placed upon the shores of the city. The tall white walls only covered protected the city from the land. They stopped directly at the shore. What made up the shores of Randgriz were sandy beaches, piers, and the five bridges of Randgriz that extended from the city to the road on the other side of the lake. This made the city vulnerable to an assault from the water. And thanks to Gallian High Command thinking that Aslone is still within Gallian hands, they were setting themselves up for that.

The two of them were called to see if there was any Gallian positions in the city. Even though the Gallian Generals were sure that Aslone would never fall, that didn't mean that they wouldn't ere on the side of caution by having some troops to maintain security within the city. However, despite their best efforts, the ruined city helped to hide the Gallian positions from any prying eyes. They were looking because Prince Lelouch needed the coordinates of Gallian positions so that his artillery could clear them out with a bombardment before they moved into the city. However, despite surveying the city all day, they were no closer to spotting any Gallian position. And this meant that they had moved them deeper within the city. As they were about to give up, they heard someone coming up from behind them. They turned around to see Suzaku walking up towards them with a piece of paper in his hand.

"You see anything?" asked Suzaku as he stood beside them.

"Nope. We saw nothing. Our artillery is going to be firing blind if we don't get some blasted coordinates" commented the Sergeant.

"I know. That's why Lelouch asked me to give you this," said Suzaku, handing Aada the piece of paper.

"What's this?" she asked.

"A present from Lelouch's spy in Randgriz. It's the coordinates of every Gallian position in the city. We flew a reconnaissance plane over the city today and confirmed her Intel. This should be enough for your soldiers to be able to hit them," assured Suzaku as Schnee and the Sergeant looked over the coordinates.

"Aye, he's right. I'll make a few copies and hand them over to the crews. When it's time we'll be more than ready to pound them into the ground," agreed the Sergeant as he headed back into the woods.

Aada, with a particular question in her mind, asked Suzaku "Just when exactly are we going to go through with the plan?"

"Soon, Lelouch is very particular on this. He's waiting for all the pieces to fall into place. Once they are...the city will be ours," answered Suzaku.

* * *

**And the plot continues to thicken. The piece of paper that Suzaku had was the one that C.C. had the German soldier return with. Another piece of the puzzle as to how Lelouch is going to take Randgriz has been given. Think you guys can figure out the full plan?**

**I never actually thought that there would be a character that a had a passionate love for vegetables. But Largo is a different story. I bet he was that one kid that actually wanted to eat his vegetables while the other kids didn't. But it's pretty much enjoyable for me to watch how he loves them.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	81. On the March to the Base

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes only.)_

_April 23, 1935_

_Fort Drakon_

_2334 hours (11:34 pm)_

After commandeering the German trucks carrying the stolen produce, and managing to tie up the captured German officer, the main members of Squad 7 and the IVB soldiers returned to Fort Drakon with their bounty. Within a few hours, they returned to Fort Drakon and drove inside the base to see a whole crowd of Gallian and IVB soldiers waiting for them. As soon as they saw the trucks coming into the base, the crow gave cheers and shouts at the heroes triumphant return. It was something akin to Julius Caesar marching triumphantly into Rome after conquering many different lands for the Roman Empire. And there were cheering crowds back then too...though Caesar rode into Rome on horseback, and not on trucks. But the effect was the same nonetheless.

The group parked the trucks and exited them as the crowd moved towards the trucks in order to unload the produce. Meanwhile, the members of Squad 7 escorted their prisoner over to Major Blackadder, who was standing amidst the crowd along with two French soldiers armed with MAS-36 bolt-action rifles. When the two groups meet, Welkin gave a salute to Blackadder which he gave back in kind. Blackadder then looked to the trucks and asked inquisitively "I take it then that the blockade is no longer in place?"

"Yes sir. The German blockade has been effectively destroyed. The farmers should be able to move along without much trouble now," informed Welkin, confirming Blackadder's suspicions.

"And I take it that your German friend here is all that's left of it?" asked Blackadder, gesturing to the tied up German officer.

"Yes sir. The moment he woke up he started blabbing about information to trade for his release. I think he has info on what kind of defenses are at the Black Prince's supply base," informed Welkin which in turn peaked Blackadder's interest. If the German officer had information on the Prince's supply base, than he needed to be interrogated immediately. Without delay, he signaled for the two soldiers beside to take the German away. They moved forward, taking the tied up officer and dragging him away to the interrogation room of Fort Drakon. There he would be interrogated on information about the base's defenses. If it turned out to be correct, then he would be allowed to leave under armed guard towards the front lines where he would be let go to return back to the German lines.

"Alright, we'll get to work on him. In the meantime I suggest you all get some sleep. I'll inform you about our progress at 0645 sharp tomorrow morning Lieutenant Gunther," informed Blackadder, turning around and following the two soldiers. At that moment, Rosie let out a loud and long yawn, showing that like the rest of the group, she was very, very tired. So without saying much, the six of them went back to the barracks, hoping to catch up on some much needed sleep to which no doubt the rest of the Squad was enjoying at the moment.

* * *

_The Next Day_

_0700 hours (7:00)_

The next day, Squad 7 was awoken earlier than they had expected to be. Apparently at 6:45 in the morning, an American soldier busted into the barracks banging a pot with a metal pipe, rudely waking everyone in Squad 7 up from their deep and peaceful slumber. All the while he was shouting repeatedly "WAKE UP! WAKE UP! GET UP YOU LAZY LOT! MILITIA SQUAD 7 IS TO BE IN THE MAIN COURTYARD AT ONCE! MOVE IT! I WANT MOVEMENT!". Suddenly the whole Squad was scrambling out of bed as they tried to quickly get dressed and gather all of their gear. To say that they were completely unprepared for this kind of surprise would have been an understatement. They barely managed to get themselves together and managed to form up in a hastily assembled formation in the courtyard fifteen minutes later.

A few minutes later, Welkin showed up and as he straightened his cap he looked to his still tired troops and quickly got down to business. He said "Sorry for the wake up. But things just got a lot more complicated."

"Define complicated," said a tired Hermes, struggling to keep his eyes open after being so rudely awoken.

"We're heading out on our next mission. We're going after the German supply base in the Ardennes, and the Black Prince himself," announced Welkin, explaining what they were going to do. The minute that the realization hit the Squad they were all completely surprised. So much in fact that they no longer felt tired at all. They all knew that the Black Prince's supply base in the Ardennes was the reason why they were here. But none of them quite expected this to be the reason why they had to assemble on such short notice. And they knew that Prince Lelouch was itching for a fight with Welkin so it was safe to say that this was certainly going to be their toughest fight yet.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean we're going after him? I thought you said earlier that no one knew what kind of defenses the base had," pointed out Alex.

"The German officer that we captured last night sang like a bird. He told us everything that the Prince has protecting him and that base," explained Alicia.

"Welkin, that's not going to help. Just because we know what kind of troops he has doesn't mean that we can fight him. He knows we're coming after him, so we don't exactly have the element of surprise," noted Jack, slinging his M5A2 Folsom Carbine over his shoulder. Jack knew that this mission wasn't going to be some walk in the park. Lelouch was the best military commander that the Germans had. And knowing the man better than anyone at the unit, he was sure that just knowing the number of troops wasn't exactly an advantage for them in this situation.

"Yeah, but we have one thing that he doesn't have: you," pointed out Largo, as he pointed straight at Jack.

"Me?! Me?! How the hell does make a difference?!" cried a frantic Jack. He had no idea where this was going, but he was pretty sure that this wasn't going to end well.

Welkin explained by admitting "You know him better than most. You said so yourself. That means you're the best person to advise on developing a strategy. When we get near the camp, you're going to help us with planning the Op."

Though Welkin had good intentions as to this, Jack however wasn't as excited about this plan very much. Trying to point out what everyone else was missing, he looked to Welkin and explained to him carefully "Welkin, this is Lelouch vi Britannia we're talking about. He's a lot of things, but predictable is by the very last on that list. He's always three steps ahead of his opponents, and the whole idea of war is like a game of chess to him. I may know a lot about him, but doesn't mean that I know what's going on in that head of his. His mind is like an enigma machine built inside two other ones. The minute you think you got him, he surprises you in a way you never expected. Now what in the world makes you think that I have any bloody clue how his mind works?!"

"Because you're the closest thing we got to that. And it's better than nothing," said Alicia, patting him on the back. Jack could only sigh in defeat as he could see that there was no possible reason as to dissuade them from this line of thought.

"But boss, how is just one squad going to be enough to take on the Black Prince? Cause that sounds like a suicide mission to me," asked Lynn, noting the odds on how just their Squad would be enough to break through to the German supply base. She got her answer when they all heard a whistle and looked to see Faldio and all of Squad 1 standing before them, outfitted and ready for a fight. Each of the soldiers had their gear, armor plating, weapons, and ammunition as well, and looked fresh and ready for another battle against the _Wehrmacht_. Judging from that, it seemed like they were going to be coming along with them to the Black Prince's base. With Squad 1, the odds of success seemed better than they would be if they went alone.

"Hey Faldio, your men ready to go?" asked Welkin, shaking Faldio's hand when the two men met up.

"Yup, we're all ready to go. Just need to wait for the others to arrive," responded Faldio.

"Others? Who else is coming along?" questioned Jack, wondering what he was talking about. Now it was his question that was answered when Faldio pointed to behind Jack to see a large group of IVB and ALF resistance fighters heading towards them. There looked to be about forty ALF soldiers armed with various weapons and gear over their civilian clothes, and the IVB members consisted of several officers from each member nations of the IVB. And as they got closer, Welkin and the others could see it was a whole rogues gallery of officers in the IVB leading the group. The leaders were Sergeant Reznov, Sergeant Natasha and Captain Dimitri Petrenko, a man in his mid thirties with short brown hair and beard, for the Russians, Lieutenant Henri Defense and Lieutenant Saber for the French, Captain Lara Croft and Private Baldrick for the British, and finally Sergeant Daniel Marks and Lieutenant Samus Aran for the Americans. And leading the ALF resistance fighters was none other than Lucina herself. Add all the groups that had been assembled in the courtyard, and it was perhaps a much better strike force to take on Lelouch than the one that the Gassenarl siblings took with them days earlier.

"Surprised to see us again Lieutenant Gunther?" inquired Lucina, as their group finally reached the others.

"You can say that. So it looks like we're all going after the Black Prince then?" responded Welkin, quickly guessing why they were here as well.

"Taking down a Nazi Prince who's their best commander? Everybody here's looking forward to this," answered Henri, gesturing to the ALF fighters behind them. Jack looked and saw their eager faces, like they were itching for a chance like this, and Jack could see why. For twenty years, the ALF have done little more than hit and run attacks as well as the occasional raid now and then. They have been looking forward to doing something big like this for a long time. And this was that moment, for they were going to help take down one of the most important members of the Nazi Royal Family. They just needed to make sure that they stayed alive to see it happen. But they were still excited to take down Lelouch all the same. Removing him from the equation would do wonders for their movement.

It was at that moment that Major Blackadder entered the hanger along with a Gallian Militia Sergeant from the 3rd Regiment. The man was nineteen years old, and judging from the amount of armor he was wearing, it was easy to judge that he was most likely a Lancer. He was physically fit for someone of his age who also had red eyes, and spiked red hair. From the patch on his uniform, it showed that he belonged to Squad 5, a squad that was sent here just after the Battle of Vasel. After that, they must have been assigned to Fort Drakon and helped the IVB protect the remaining towns in the Ardennes that were under Gallian control. And from noting the scratches and tears in his uniform and armor plates, it was evident that the unit had seen some heavy action recently.

"Everyone listen up. This is Sergeant Leon Hardins, the interim commander of Squad 5. He and his unit were on a scouting mission deep in the Ardennes and they managed to do reconnaissance on the base and confirmed it's defenses," explained Blackadder, introducing them all to the young Sergeant.

"Wait, where's Lieutenant Carson? I thought he was in charge," noted Faldio, remembering that a different man was in charge of Squad 5. He was wondering why the unit had an interim commander.

"Carson _was_ in charge, but not anymore. He's dead. Killed by a Bouncing Betty mine three days ago, along with most of the Squad. I'm the highest ranking soldier left," answered Leon, telling them as to how his unit had become so depleted that as of this moment, Squad 7 consisted of no less than a dozen soldiers. They were in no current shape to go on any kind of mission for fear that it may result in what's left of their unit being wiped out completely.

"So what exactly does Lelouch have guarding the supply base with?" asked Welkin, curious as to what they would be facing.

"Well we didn't exactly see that guy anywhere but we didn't exactly get close to the base to tell. But what we can tell you is that there's about a whole company of men there, maybe more. Some of the uniforms were different, looking like they may be Black Knights. They've got about two Panzer's guarding the entrance as well as a few Troika's. From what we could see, the only way in is through the main road," informed Leon as he went over what information that he and his men managed to gather from the reconnaissance that they managed to quickly conduct before returning to base.

Jack, looking to Welkin, commented to him "That's a lot of guards for a base behind their lines. If it's that well guarded, then Lelouch might be there after all."

Blackadder gave Welkin and the others two a pair of surveillance photos that Squad 7 managed to take. Each one showed an individual who seemed to be the ones giving orders at the base besides Lelouch. One was of a young German officer in a uniform that showed his high rank, and another showed a woman of the same age, covered in armor and with a sword attached to her belt. Giving the photos to Welkin, he and the other commanders looked at them with Blackadder asking "Either of these two look familiar to you all?"

"Yeah, they do. The guy in the uniform is Colonel Isaac, Lelouch's main commander. This guy's served under Lelouch from the very beginning," said Jack, pointing to one of the pictures.

"What about her?" asked Alicia, pointing to the one with the woman.

"That's Lightning. She's Lelouch's Knight, translation being that she's his main bodyguard. Where he goes, she's usually not that far behind," said Jack.

"She's deadly as she is beautiful. I've fought her a couple of times. That sword she carries is more than just for show," added Lucina, recounting her experiences from conducting raids on Black Knight bases. The two of them had traded blows from time to time with each battle resulting in a draw between the two of them. Lucina knew that Lighting was an accomplished swordsman, and that she would lay down her life to protect her charge no matter what. So when they took the base, they would have to deal with Lightning quickly.

"That alone confirms that he's at that base," said Faldio.

"Yeah, along with a small army of soldiers guarding him. It won't exactly be easy getting past them all," noted Daniel.

"That's why we're bringing _that_ along with us," said Jack, pointing straight at the _Edelweiss_, parked not far from them, fully fueled, and ready to go. This tank was already prepared to go thanks to Isara's diligent work. And since they were going to be taking on Lelouch, the _Edelweiss_ was a must have in this situation. Since it could take on German tanks by itself, it would be vital in breaking through Lelouch's front lines once things got intense. Arianna would be coming along as well. After they returned from Tambor without the _Shamrock_, they then went to find a replacement and eventually found a captured Panzer 38(t) that the IVB kept in it's maintenance garage. Like the first _Shamrock_, Arianna, Leon, and Kries simply painted it in Gallian colors. The newly christened _Shamrock Mk II _was in the courtyard as well, and placed behind the _Edelweiss_.

"Speed is critical in this mission. We need you to make a dash across the Ardennes and hit that base as soon as you can. The quicker you get there, the less time the Prince has time to set up his defenses," said Blackadder, explaining the urgency of this mission. The minute that they entered the Ardennes, German forces would be alerted to their presence, and no doubt notify Lelouch of them as well, and perhaps try to stop them as well. So it was important that they managed to get to the base as quickly as possible so that Lelouch wouldn't try to bolster his defenses by getting reinforcements from garrisons. Lelouch was a dangerous opponent, even with a small army at his command. But if he managed to get more troops to help him out, then it would be damn near impossible to take that base with their current numbers.

"Normally I'd say _'this is going to be easy'_, but sadly I'm getting more of a _'suicide mission'_ vibe from all of this," commented Jack in a cynical tone, showing how unenthusiastic he was about the idea of taking on Lelouch. Mainly this was due to the fact that he was still his oldest and closest friend, despite the fact that the two of them were now on opposing sides of the war. But it was also due to the fact that Jack was well aware of what Lelouch was capable of in terms of warfare. In Jack's mind, going up against Lelouch head on was about as close to a death wish as he could think of.

"I thought you had a specialty for suicide missions. What about Anchorage?" asked Theold.

"Compared to what we're walking into, Anchorage seems like a bloody cakewalk," noted Lara.

"For once, me and my ex here actually agree on something," said Jack in a joking tone.

"Like, what do you mean by that? Like, how was that easier?" inquired Cherry, oblivious to the obvious reasons why.

Jack, turning to look to the squad, asked them all sarcastically "Do you want the long version or the short version? No, wait a minute, we're on a time crunch here so I'll go for the short version. First of all, he Red Army is made up of conscripts. Guys and gals who don't exactly want to fight but they're scared of being at the end of a Commissar's pistol, always a good motivator. Lelouch's army, _all_ of them are willing to fight for him. Secondly, the Soviets always had the same tactic: overwhelm the enemy with large numbers, which worked _half_ that time. With Lelouch, you're lucky if you even know what he's gonna have for lunch! Other than that, you are utterly fucking screwed! So to wrap that all up, taking on Lelouch, who quite frankly has more battles in three years than most commander wins in their lifetime, is the definition of suicidal!"

"If you're done with that vivid assessment Sergeant, we do have a battle to attend to," said Blackadder, bringing them back onto topic. Jack, seeing no point in continuing his little tirade, simply slumped his shoulders down and turned back to face the Major.

Once he turned back around, Welkin asked the Major "Just when exactly do you want us to leave?"

"In five minutes," replied the Major, keeping it short due to the time frame of this mission. And with that, he and Leon Hardins moved towards the gate where the rest of Squad 5 were, waiting for the signal to open the gate and let them all through. Meanwhile, the strike force was all loading up onto the Gallian trucks that had just arrived to help transport them towards the Black Prince's supply base, or at least as close as they could get without being fired upon by his forces.

And as Jack and the main members of Squad 7 climbed up onto the _Edelweiss_ with Welkin and Isara already inside and prepping the tank, he looked to them and asked "Am I the only one here who thinks we're going into the belly of the beast here?"

"Nope," replied Alicia, Largo, Rosie, and even Welkin and Isara from inside the _Edelweiss_, and all at the same time. Jack could merely nod at the fact that at least he wasn't the only one who was thinking that at the moment. And with that final thought, he took his seat on the _Edelweiss_ as Isara revved up it's engine, bringing the great war machine to life. The _Shamrock Mk II_ and the trucks behind them did the same, and with their drivers and passenger's were on board, Leon looked up to see one of his soldiers, his figure barely visible even with the light of the ring sun over the horizon, looking down at Leon from above at the gate controls.

Leon yelled up to his soldier, shouting "Matthew! Tell Ragna and Kai to open the gates! We've got people heading out!"

"Aye, aye boss!" shouted back Matthew as he moved away from view to relay Leon's orders to the other members of Squad 5.

A few minutes later, they heard the sounds of large gears grinding as they turned, causing the large, reinforces gates to open up slowly. Waiting for the gates to open fully, which took about a minute and a half to do so. Once they were opened, Welkin signaled for Isara to move forward. The _Edelweiss_ quickly drove out, followed by the _Shamrock Mk II_ and the trucks, moving in single file as the convoy began to travel on the narrow dirt roads of the Ardennes roads. Once the last of the trucks exited the gate, it immediately started to close. Looking through the now closing opening of the gate, Leon and Blackadder saw the light of the early sunrise illuminating the tops of the trees, bringing another new day upon the world. Neither of them knew what this new day would bring, but each of them, as well as all of the good people now misplaced by this war, hoped that each new day would bring a glimmer of hope that these dark days would soon be at an end. And despite the mounting odds that stood against them, they still held firm the belief that as long as there was still good in this land, Gallia would never truly cease to exist within the world.

And as the gates finally closed, Leon looked to Blackadder, who was still looking at the now closed gate, and inquired "Do you really think it's possible? That they'll succeed in this? We let that officer go after all. He's bound to tell the Prince that they're coming."

Blackadder was silent for a few moments before he responded with "If my assumptions are correct, he probably knew all along that Gunther would be coming to him. But if the Lieutenant is anything like his father was, then yes. I do think they'll succeed where others would fail."

With that statement said, he turned on his heel and walked further into the base with Leon not far behind him. With Squad 7 and Squad 1 out there and doing their part, the two of them would have to prepare the base and the forces inside for any further offensive into the German held territories in the Ardennes. Because once that supply base was out, they would cut off the flow of supplies flowing towards the German forces on the Central Front. And that meant the Germans would have to pull troops from the Ardennes and place them on the Central and Northern Fronts in order to make up for this setback. And with their positions in the South weakened, it would be a good chance for the IVB and the Gallians to launch an offensive to retake the Ardennes before returning their focus to the main German forces in the Central and Northern Front. Such a victory would be helpful in giving the Gallians the chance in liberating the South before the rest of the nation. And all of that depended on the victory of the strike force .

Meanwhile, outside Fort Drakon, as the strike force crossed into German held territory in the Ardennes, a small two man scout team of German soldiers watched the convoy drive through the Ardennes from their hiding place in the bushes. Looking through his binoculars, one of the German soldiers spied on it for a minute before looking to her comrade and saying "They're heading towards the base, just like the Colonel said. Contact the base, we'll need to tell them that they're on their way."

The second German soldier nodded his head and began operating the radio to contact the supply base. After a few minutes, they managed to reach them. Speaking into the transmitter, the male German soldier reported "Patrol 3-2 reporting in. Enemy forces on the road, heading towards main supply depot. Need to speak to _Oberst_ Isaac immediately."

"_This is Oberst Isaac here. Report on the enemy strength. What are we facing?_" said Isaac, who was the one on the other end of this transmission.

"Two enemy Panzers, one captured 38(t) and one heavy tank identified as the enemy tank _Edelweiss_. Several trucks loaded with infantry trail behind them. Exact number of troops unknown but likely several platoons in size. Request permission to alert other garrisons and have them stop the enemy?" reported the scouts, before asking to try and warn other German forces. If they contacted them quickly enough then they could be able to organize another ambush like the one used against the Gassenarl strike force just days ago. However, what Isaac said next was exactly the opposite that of what they expected him to reply with.

"_Negative. Prince Lelouch has a plan for them. We'll be ready for them. Continue your watch on the road and report back if there are any further developments,_" ordered Isaac as he cut off the radio channel on his end. The scouts did as they were told and continued to keep watch on the road in case any other Gallian forces would be coming towards them. Meanwhile, Isaac had his radio operator contact Lelouch and his forces operating near Randgriz so that he could update him on this development.

* * *

_Ten Minutes later_

_Eastern Shores of Lake Graz_

Lelouch and Kallen had woken up early to oversee the final preparations for their operation to take Randgriz. So far, everything was going very well as the final pieces of Lelouch's grand plan were finally being put into place. And as they were finishing up their oversight, a German radio operator rushed over to them, saluted, and gave them a piece of paper from a transmission that he had received. Unfolding the piece of paper, Kallen and Lelouch read it and the message said the following:

_"Squad 7 en route to Ardennes Supply Depot. Additional forces traveling with them. Should be here in a few hours. Will report with further updates. - Colonel Alexander Isaac"_

The moment he finished reading it, Lelouch gave an evil like smirk. Now he had the Gallians precisely where he wanted them. With their focus placed upon the Ardennes and the enticing offer of capturing him, and with Welkin Gunther's men away from the Central Front, he was now ready to move forward with Operation: _Wacht am Rhine_, his plan to take Randgriz. Giving back the message to the radio operator, he looked to Captain Aada Schnee, who was traveling alongside them and said "Prepare our forces...it's time we made our move."

She immediately gave a quick salute and dragging the radio operator with her, she went to relay his orders and ready their forces for the big push that they've been waiting for. Soon, Randgriz would be under German control, and Prince Lelouch would be striding down the halls of Castle Randgriz as the victor.

* * *

German to English translation

1: Oberst = Colonel

2: Wacht am Rhine = Watch on the Rhine

**And now things are getting very, very interesting. Now the true fight is getting near. I'm getting very excited here. I've been waiting to write these upcoming chapters for a while now and I'm getting nearer to it every day. How do you imagine that Lelouch will take Randgriz? Think you can fit all the pieces together? Send me a PM and see if you've got it all down. Get ready, because the Ardennes battle is coming up next.**

**Also, I didn't mention this earlier but the Troika machine gun the Germans use is based on the heavy machine gun from the Gears of War series. It's design is similar only I've modified it to look like it fits in the WWII period of world history. Anyway, the Germans will use this gun in the future.**

**This chapter also marks the first appearance of Leon Hardins, Avan Hardin's older brother, in the "On the Gallian Front" universe. This is him basically during his days in the Militia in the 3rd Regiment's Squad 5. The characters in his unit are characters created by fellow Fanfiction writer Blazblade who asked if I could put them in my story. All these characters belong to him and are used with his consent. Squad 5 will appear in further chapters so expect to see them every once in a while.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	82. The Battle of the Ardennes Part-1

**Okay, just a few things before we start. The map of the battle where this takes place is the same map for the Kloden supply base battle used in the Valkyria Chronicles game. Another thing is this, I took something from the game, mainly from the Imperial Army and gave it to the Germans in this battle. You'll know what it is when you see it...hopefully. Also, this battle is somewhat bigger than I intended it to be so I'll be splitting this up into parts and will try to upload them each week. Okay, other than that, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_April 24, 1935_

_Ardennes Forest_

_1014 hours (10:14 am)_

After a few hours of quick and easy travel on the dirt roads of the Ardennes Forest, the strike force had set up in a clearing near the supply base but it was far enough that the Germans wouldn't be able to see them. The clearing itself was large enough for them to park their truck as well as the _Edelweiss_ and the _Shamrock Mk II_ as well. Meanwhile, the officers in charge had gathered next to the _Edelweiss_ where they were preparing a plan of attack for the upcoming battle against the Black Prince's forces. From what they could tell from the map of the landscape, the only way into the supply base was through the main road. There was a fork on the right which led past a large bluff separating the base and that side road. There was a trail that lead over the bluff that connected the base and the road, however the Germans had blockaded the route with fallen tree trucks which prevented anyone from using it. There was also a small outpost in front of the main supply base that served as a checkpoint for anyone heading into the facility from the main road. There was a large pond on the left side of the main road, with a shed and pier used by fisherman in this area before the war. They didn't know if the Germans had soldiers there, but if they did then it was a good position to flank the strike force as it advanced. All in all, it seemed that the only way for them to be able to hit the base was to simply travel along the main road and assault it head on.

However, that presented a problem for them. Lelouch undoubtedly knew that Welkin and the others were coming to get him. So that meant that he probably had this route fortified as well as any other possible route into the base. And with the amount of troops and weapons he has with him in order to defend the supply bases, then he can push back any assault with ease. This meant that it would be almost suicidal to mount any kind of offensive no matter what they tried. It was just like Jack said: this mission was not going to be easy at all. However, some of the Squad was too busy thinking about other things at the moment, like how they were going to be able to fight in this forest.

Trying to see through the forest, Largo and Rosie could barely even see twenty feet before the forest became thick with bushes and foliage. Wondering their purpose here, Rosie said to Largo in a whining tone "What are we doing here? Remind me, whose idea was it to come out here anyway? Enough with the trees already."

"You can say that again. Woods are so thick you can't tell up from down with these trees," commented Largo before looking to the officer's and continuing with "Let's just hope that they can think of a way through all of this."

"So what should we do? Got any ideas Welkin?" asked Faldio, looking to Welkin as he and the other officers looked over the map, trying to think of a way to fight and win this battle. Since Welkin was the one that the Black Prince wanted to fight against, the other officers made him the unofficial leader of the strike force.

"I have a rough idea...but I don't exactly have a winning move though," answered Welkin truthfully. He was trying his best to think of a plan, but he was having trouble doing so. And when it seemed like he was on the verge of coming up with a plan, a factor appeared that shot it to pieces, forcing him to start all over again.

"Well what did you expect Welkin? You're not exactly Sun Tzu here. None of us are," commented Jack as he was sitting on the _Edelweiss_ with Isara and managing to overhearing the whole conversation happening near them.

One glare from Welkin, Faldio, and the officers told him that they would be much more comfortable if he would just stop talking. Taking this hint quickly, Jack slowly turned around and went back to cleaning his Colt 1911 pistols. Meanwhile, Alicia, who was in the meeting, was acting like she was a little uncomfortable. This was mainly due to Faldio being present at this meeting. Every time she looked at him, all she could think about was that extremely awkward and embarrassing moment back at Fort Drakon involving him and her underwear. That was truly the most embarrassing moment of her life and she was merely trying to put it all behind her. If that was even possible.

"What about you Alicia? Do you have any ideas?" asked Faldio, looking at Alicia which made her all the more uncomfortable.

Alicia, quickly wanting to distance herself from this conversation, and Faldio, simply answered with a quick 'no' before walking away towards the other side of the _Edelweiss_ where Jack and Isara were. She would rather put up with more of Jack's quips than handle an extra few minutes with Faldio. At least with Jack he was somewhat easier to deal with, even though he could be slightly annoying at times. Meanwhile, Welkin and the others continued to try and come up with some kind of plan. Suddenly, Isara heard a rustling coming from the bushes. Quickly turning her head, she saw a few of the forest bushes moving slightly. Someone was in there, and was probably watching them from there. Managing to get Jack and Alicia's attention, she pointed over to those bushes and said "Hey, there's something moving over there."

"Ah, it probably just a deer. Calm down," assured Jack, brushing it off as nothing of notice. Since they were in a forest, it was probably more likely that it was just some wild animal instead of a German soldier.

"I don't know. It's been moving there for a while now," countered Isara, noting that she had been noticing it for a time.

"I don't like it. It might be a German scout," suggested Alicia, grabbing her Gallian-M4 that she had slung over her shoulder and readying it.

"Why would Lelouch send a scout? The man knows we're coming. The fact that we haven't run into any German troops is evident enough," pointed out Jack. There was some merit to his point. After all, Lelouch did have the best ace in the _Luftwaffe_ send his little declaration of war against Welkin by dropping it directly onto Fort Amaranthine. So that means that Lelouch would be anticipating Welkin to arrive at the Ardennes at some point. Add to the fact that the strike force didn't encounter any German forces along the way added another point to Jack's argument.

However it seemed to have little effect on Alicia, as she simply walked off into the forest in search of whatever was out there. Her rifle leveled, she carefully moved forward, keeping an eye out for any sign of suspicious movement. She didn't know what was out there, but she had to assume that it wasn't very friendly. She didn't really cared what Jack thought. If there was any chance that Lelouch had one of his men scouting out to see just what he was up against, Alicia wasn't willing to just let him leave with that kind of info. As she was moving closer to where Isara saw the suspicious movement, she suddenly heard someone coming up from behind her. Alicia immediately turned around, aiming her rifle directly at the person, whom Alicia could now see was Rosie.

The moment that the barrel of the rifle was pointed directly at Rosie, she flipped out. She followed Alicia because she saw her heading in and wanted to know what was going on. However, what she didn't expect to happen was for her to suddenly point a loaded gun at her. Jumping back a little and raising her arms up as if surrendering, she looked to Alicia and exclaimed "What the hell?! I was-"

Alicia quickly covered Rosie's mouth to stop her from talking so that they wouldn't alert whatever was out there. Trying to clue Rosie into what was going on, Alicia gestured her head over to those bushes and whispered to Rosie "Quiet. I think there's a German scout over there."

"A German scout?" asked Rosie, her voice muffled by Alicia's hand over her mouth.

Alicia lowered her rifle and removed her hand from Rosie's mouth, moving back towards the bushes. And just as the bushes began to move again, Alicia was surprised to see Rosie charging right past her and jumping right into the bushes, hearing a thud when she landed on the ground. As Alicia watched this happened, she simply hoped that Rosie managed to land on top of the German scout. The noise she made had alerted the others in the camp, who all looked in the general direction of the thud, wondering what it was that had just happened. Alicia however, watched as Rosie stood back up from the bushes. Her uniform was a little ruffled from the landing as well as her hair looking a little disheveled. With a groan, she questioned "A scout? You mean this thing?"

She pulls out something from the bushes which Alicia wasn't expecting. It wasn't a German scout, but a Porcavian piglet. The Porcavian pig is a cousin of the common fig found exclusively in Europa. They're generally smaller than normal pigs, looking like stuffed pigs given to children. Another trait that distinguishes them is that they grow small wing like appendages on their backs. This had given rise to the myth that Porcavians are even capable of flight, though there is little scientific proof that is true. Often the little creatures are found to be affectionate and many are often kept as pets. And unfortunately for this one, the cute little animal was now at the hands of an irritated Rosie Stark who strode back to the clearing with him tucked under her arm.

When Rosie, Alicia, and the Porcavian were back in the clearing, everyone was looking at them, including the officers. Seeing Rosie's disheveled look, Jack joked "What did you do Rosie? Go hunting?"

Handing the Porcavian to Alicia, Rosie looked back to Welkin and explained "Alicia thought she saw a German scout hiding in the bushes. Me, believing her, tried to get him. Turned out it was just this pig."

The Porcavian, merely being itself, stared at the others before saying a squeaky "Moink". Welkin, being the nature man that he is, took an interest in the pig and began to pet it while saying "He doesn't look more than a year old. Wonder what he's doing out here on his own."

"I don't know. But it just seems sad you know? I mean, no one should really be alone," said Alicia, looking a little sad when she said that. Somehow the thought of being alone in the world like the little guy that she was holding in her arms seemed to cause her to be upset. It was clear that this meant something to her, though why no one seemed to know.

"You know I've heard the phrase 'when pigs fly' but I never thought I'd actually live to see a winged pig," commented Jack as he looked at the Porcavian. He had to admit that the little bugger was rather cute for a farm animal. And even though he had heard of the Porcavians having wings he had never really believed it, not until now. It brought a whole new meaning to the whole phrase 'when pigs fly', that was certain.

Rosie, however, was too busy complaining as she cried "Yeah well I've had just about enough of this damn forest! I've got scratches everywhere from landing on that damn animal trail. Now I've got twigs up my-"

"Wait, what did you just say?" asked Welkin, quickly realizing something that Rosie said. From the look on his face, it seemed important that he heard her correctly.

Wondering what this was all about, Rosie stopped complaining and hesitantly answered "Um, I said I'm covered in scratches?"

"No, I mean after that," corrected Welkin.

"Uh, I landed on an animal trail? Why are you even asking?" inquired Rosie. Now she was really confused. What was it that she said that was so important that Welkin needed to know it. She didn't really get an answer as without even saying a single word to explain his motives, Welkin headed off into the forest, stopping just outside the clearing. Welkin then knelt beside the bushes and began searching among the ground for clues to help support a theory he had just come up with. What he was doing was confusing the others, mainly because they had exactly no idea what he was doing there at all. All they can tell is that something that Rosie said had apparently given him an idea of some kind.

"What is he doing?" asked Lucina, scratching her head in confusion.

"I don't know. Maybe he found a map in the dirt?" commented Rosie sarcastically.

"At this point it could be anything. I recommend caution," joked Jack.

He knew that when Welkin had that certain look on his face, it was likely followed by one of the crazy plans he had such as the one he had back at Vasel. Curious like the others, Alicia decided to act and find out exactly what he was doing. Handing over the Porcavian to Isara, who took it in her arms, Alicia walked over to Welkin, still checking on certain areas of the forest. Once she was there, Welkin handed her a few small, round objects before continuing to search. Holding one in her other hand with the rest in her gloved palm, she tried to figure out just what it was that Welkin just gave her. Wondering out loud, she said "What are these Welkin? Some kind of nuts?"

"Actually no. They're Longbeard Goat droppings," answered Welkin. The moment Welkin told her what she was holding, she freaked out and threw them as far as she could, wanting those dropping to be as afar away from her as possible and gave a shriek as she did so. She couldn't believe that Welkin handed her animal droppings of all things. Just another thing to add on the things about Welkin that irritated her.

"Argh! You made me hold that?! Are you crazy?!" shrieked Alicia as she stared angrily at Welkin, though he paid her no mind. Deciding to get involved in this, the main members of Squad 7, with Isara still holding the Porcavian in her arms, walked up to see what exactly Welkin had found.

Isara, being the first to speak up, politely asked "Did you find something Welks?

"And if you did, could you at least tell us what's so damn important?" added Largo.

Welkin answered by pointing forward to a large patch of grass among the bushes. They knelt down to get a better look and soon they saw exactly what Welkin was seeing. It may originally look like a patch of grass, but upon closer inspection, it was in fact an animal trail. Part of the grass looked like it was trampled down, no doubt caused by the animals that used this trail, the Porcavian included. From the look of the direction the trail went, it seemed like it ran right alongside the pond...and the German supply base. And if it ran alongside the German base, then there may be a possibility that it would lead them directly towards the side of the German supply base, completely flanking the German forces guarding the main route into the base.

"I think I have an idea on how we're going to take that base after all," announced Welkin, having finally come up with a strategy.

* * *

_5 minutes later_

Going over the map one last time, Welkin gathered the others together to discuss their plan of attack. Each one of them was eager to hear how Welkin planned to take on the Black Prince and hopefully be able to outwit him. Welkin, laying the map out, began explaining his plan by saying "The plan calls for a two pronged assault. We'll separate into two groups, with my squad and the IVB members making up the main force while Faldio's men and the ALF resistance fighters making up the second group. My group will launch an assault on the main German defenses, grabbing their attention and diverting their forces to our position. Meanwhile, Faldio and Lucina will lead their forces along the animal trail we found towards the supply bases' flank. With the Germans focused on our main attack, their defenses should be weaker at the base. While we have Lelouch's forces distracted, your group will attack the base. Once the Germans realize what's going on they'll have to fight on two different sides, dividing their forces. After that, we push them on both sides, taking out the German troops. In the end, the supply base, as hopefully Lelouch, will be in our hands."

"Well that doesn't sound hard. We can be done by afternoon tea," commented Private Baldrick with an idiotic smile, completely oblivious to just how dangerous this mission would really be.

"If I know Lelouch, and sadly I do, he's going to make that plan of yours harder than it should be. He won't go down without a fight," said Jack, with his M5A2 Folsom Carbine in hand.

"But if this plan succeeds, we won't have to worry about him anymore," assured Henri.

"The key word here is 'if'. We don't know that this plan is going to work," pointed out Lara. She agreed with Jack on that this mission would likely be far fetched in terms of likelihood of success. From what Jack described, Lelouch was always a few steps ahead of his opponents. Was it even safe to say that Lelouch may have already anticipated them to do something like this? They didn't know, but it was likely that they would have to take a gamble on this one.

"I'm still willing to fight, and my men will fight right beside you," assured Lucina.

"Well my men will go along with this plan, but do you think you can spare an NCO for us? We're a little short," added Faldio, inquiring if Welkin had a Sergeant he could loan to his unit for the mission. Aside from him and Ramal, there weren't any NCO's in Squad 1. Welkin, looking among his own squad for a likely candidate, eventually selected the most suitable one: Alicia, mainly by pointing directly at her. Before Alicia could object, Faldio had already agreed and soon everyone was preparing to move out for the battle up ahead.

* * *

_A little while later_

_1029 hours (10:29 am)_

Squad 7 and the IVB members sneak up along the main route toward the outpost that formed the German front lines for the supply base. The _Edelweiss_, followed by the _Shamrock Mk II_ drove upon the dirt road, going slow and steady as not to rush into the unknown German defenses. Meanwhile, the Squad members and the IVB soldiers moved alongside a high ridge on the left side of the road which shielded their advance and kept them from being seen. There was also a ridge on the right side of the road that was pretty steep, while also managing to protect the group's right flank from an attempt by the Germans to flank them. Once they were at the edge of the ridge, which stopped at a turn to the left, Welkin raised his hand, ordering the convoy to halt, just short of being seen if they moved any further. Dorothy, peeking around the former, saw the outpost just a few hundred yards away. And the small outpost was already heavily defended.

There were a small wall of sandbags on either side of the fenced in entrance, and each had a Troika heavy machine gun placed there as a deterrent against any infantry attack. There were some smaller lines of sandbags in assorted positions on both sides to help provide additional protection for troops defending the entrance. Also, from what the sounds of engines coming from the outpost, it was safe to say that there were some vehicles there as well. It was hard to determine as they seemed to be hiding behind a few small buildings in the outpost, but to be safe they would have to assume the worst and figure that they were likely up against some tanks. And to complement that, it seemed that there was a whole platoon or more in the base and manning it's defenses. Judging from how they were all manning their defensive positions, but not completely on the alert, they were clearly expecting someone to come down the road and straight at them.

Immediately seeing how in depth the Germans were dug in, and just how many of them there were, Dorothy quickly popped back behind the ridge and began breathing heavily out of panic before explaining to Largo, crouched behind her "There...is a lot of Germans out there."

Largo, moving her behind him took a peak and confirmed what she saw. Looking back to the others, he merely informed them "She's right. These guys are dug in deep."

"They definitely know we're here. This is going to be fun," said Vyse with glee as he looked forward to the fight.

Jack, looking at him, merely remarked "You're crazy, you know that Eyepatch? Oddly enough I'm okay with that."

"Okay so now we need to keep the Germans distracted in order for Faldio's team to have a chance of sneaking in," announced Welkin.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" questioned Herbert in an uninterested tone.

"Allow me to do that," said Jack as he got Salinas, Vyse, Aika, Musaad, Catherine, Oscar, Homer, and Knute. Once he had them all, they followed him into the open, unaware as to what exactly he had planned. When they were all out in the open but still able to quickly run back behind the ridge when the chaos got started. The Germans, all too busy in minding their own business, didn't even notice a bunch of Gallians and an American standing out in the open a few hundred yards away from them. None of them were expecting what Jack had in store for them in order to 'get their attention'.

Looking to the members of Squad 7 that he had gathered behind him, he whispered to them exactly what they were going to do. He said "On my count, we wildly fire a bunch of shots at these guys then after we make sure that they see us, we run right back behind the ridge as fast as we can."

"And how is that going to help?" asked Catherine, wondering the point out of this.

"One: it'll get their attention. Two: it'll scare the crap out of them. And three: best way to get someone's attention is to piss them off. And shooting them seems like a good way to do that," explained Jack, going over his reasons, point by point.

With that out of the way, Jack readied his M5A2 and having it aimed at the German positions, with the rest of those among him doing the exact same thing. Once they were all ready, Jack began counting down from three loud enough for them to hear but not loud enough for the Germans to hear them. The moment he hit one, he opened fire as did the rest half a second later. The sounds of gunshots and the bullets striking all around them caused the Germans to panic almost instantly as they went about scrambling to man their positions, dropping whatever they were doing as to try and return fire back at their attackers. Squad 7 was lucky with a few shots managing to kill at least two of the German soldiers, with one of them being killed in the opening shots and the second one killed as he was running to man one of the Troika's.

Once they fired off their shots, Jack gestured for them to quickly get back behind the ridge as her began giving them cover fire. Keeping the Germans busy on him instead of the others. To try and help him out, Vyse and Aika helped cover the group, using the edge of the left ridge as cover while Aika fired with her Gallian Mauser 1889 and Vyse with his MP-18. Jack, still out in the open, saw that one of the Germans manage to reach the Troika on the left flank of the outpost and readied it for battle. Seeing this, Jack could only say 'Shit!' as he ran back to cover as the German opened fire with the Troika, unleashing a furious burst of bullets from the twin weapon's twin barrels. The bullets struck the ground near his feet as well as the adjacent ridge as the bullets were millimeters away from striking Jack. He just barely managed to reach cover as he slid the last few feet back behind the ridge.

Once he was safe, he sat down with his back behind the ridge as he reloaded a fresh magazine into his weapon. All the while, the Germans kept on firing, hoping to keep the group pinned down or to be able to hit a few of them as they came out of cover to try and engage them. And with the Troika's manned and firing away, that was likely to happen due to the amount of bullets being fired at them. After Jack finished reloading and loaded a fresh round into the chamber, Jack commented "Well in all fairness, at least we now got their attention."

However, he did feel a small stinging pain coming from his leg. He looked down and saw that one of the German's managed to clip him, causing a gash on his right calve with blood coming out of it. Jack didn't seem to mind it though. He received worse wounds than this just from the fighting at Anchorage. He wasn't going to let something like this keep him down. He and the rest of the strike force still had a job to do. However, before he could even do anything, Fina showed up and saw his wound. As Jack was about to get back up, she kept him down and said "Oh no you don't. I'm bandaging you up whether you want to or not."

Jack, knowing that it was practically useless to argue with with Fina after seeing just how she managed to keep Oscar in bed after he was wounded in the leg. So Fina immediately went to work while the _Edelweiss_ moved forward and provided cover fire with Welkin firing the fifty caliber machine gun mounted next to turret hatch, peppering the German positions. As Welkin moved the tank into view, several members of the IVB, including Lara, Baldrick, Henri, and Saber moved forward used the _Edelweiss_ as cover while they fired back at the German forces. Lara and Baldrick were firing away with Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifles while Henri was firing with his Modele 1892 revolver and Saber was firing with a MAS-38, the standard sub-machine gun of the French Army. From this range, many of the shots on both sides were merely striking cover of flying completely passed the troops on both sides. This kind of fighting would be more closely related to a war of attrition.

Fina managed to bandage up Jack's leg after giving it a good dose of Ragnaid to heal it up quick. Once it was done, Jack immediately got up and joined the fight, firing at the Germans with Aika, Vyse, and now Rosie at the edge of the ridge. Now the strike force was committed to the fight. And it looked like they had managed to get Lelouch's attention, though they still had a rough fight in order to get to the supply base. Rosie, after killing a German with a burst with her MP-18, commented above all the gunfire "For the record, how is making them angry supposed to help us?!"

"Rosie, when people get angry, they make mistakes. And we want them to make mistakes!" pointed out Largo as he fired a shot from his Lancaar-M4 at the German positions, but it merely destroyed a line of sandbags that was being unused by the German troops. Hopefully with the help of the _Edelweiss_ firing it's fifty caliber machine guns, it kept the two Germans manning the Troika's to hunker down for fear of getting shot to shreds. And without the Troika's there wasn't much that the Germans could do to stop the Gallian infantry from advancing.

Seeing the Germans pinned down, Welkin looked to his troops and shouted "We got them suppressed! Now we need to take the outpost!"

"Before we do, I got one thing left to do in order to piss them off even more!" shouted Jack with a mischievous smirk plastered all over his face. Standing back behind the ridge, among all the gunfire and the bullets whizzing by him, he extended his arm out from behind cover and gave the Germans the finger, pretty much extending his middle finger at the Germans. From his experience, this was guaranteed to just about make anyone really, really angry. To him, this gesture was pretty much universal. And it seemed to work as he could hear one of the Germans yelling back at them saying "_Wenn du unter der Erde liegst, piss ich auf dein Grab!"_

Hearing that, Jack gave a chuckle as he reloaded his weapon. Meanwhile, Daniel, whom along with Natasha was standing beside him, looked at him and asked out loud "Why the hell did you do that?!

"Pissing them off for fun! And plus they got the message! I mean what can do to us now?!" pointed out Jack as he finished reloading.

Almost immediately after he said that, the rumbling sound of moving tanks began to be heard, and it wasn't coming from either the _Edelweiss_ or the _Shamrock Mk II_. Coming from the inside of the German outpost, were two German Panzers, but none like they had ever seen before. The tanks themselves were large, with riveted armor and a grey color scheme and white etchings of an iron cross on the armored skirts on both sides as well as a swastika painted on the main turret. The two Panzers had several turrets instead of just one, making it a rather unique model in the German _Wehrmacht_. The front armor was three inches thick with those of the sides and the rear being about two inches thick, minus the armor skirts on the sides of the tank. The main turret housed a seventy-six millimeter cannon as well as an MG42 mounted next to it in the coaxial position. Two smaller turrets were placed in the front just below the main turret. The one on the tank's left housed a single MG42 machine gun while the other one had a short barreled eighty-five mortar. Add all three of these weapons together, and they were an impressive array of weapons to equip a tank with. But to top it all off, there was another small turret placed behind the main one. It was armed with another MG42 which was used to guard against any attacks from the rear from enemy units looking to knock out the tank by destroying the Ragnite radiator.

These tanks were those of the Imperial Class, a line of Panzers designed and manufactured by Schnee Arms, a subsidiary company owned by German Ragnite mogul Jacques Schnee, which was introduced into the _Wehrmacht_ in 1930. These tanks were designed to be easy to manufacture and be used in great numbers, unlike the tanks currently in service to the Germans army which where more difficult to manufacture yet were still made in great numbers. Despite their pros, Byzantium wouldn't divert his military infrastructure on replacing his entire fleet of tanks. Instead he decided to have Schnee's tanks in his forces, however, they were limited in how many there would be. There were three different tanks in the Imperial line and they were classified as Light, Medium, and Heavy tanks. The Light tanks were used for dealing with resistance fighters and for taking down countries with limited military capabilities such as those of the Balkan Confederacy. The Heavy tanks were created to break through entrenched enemy forces and supposedly impenetrable fortresses like those in the Maginot line. However they were slightly more complicated to make than even the _Jadgtiger_ so they were used in very limited numbers. Then there were the Medium tanks, which made up the bulk of Schnee's Imperial tank line. These tanks were designed to combat enemy tanks and be on the front lines of any conflict the Reich found itself in. And now two were here in the Ardennes, about to fight against Squad 7 and the IVB members with every terrible weapon they had.

As the two Panzers took up positions near the front of the German defenses, lining up side by side, Jack, who was watching this happen, commented "Okaaay..._maybe_ I pissed them off a little too much."

"You think?! Now they brought in tanks!" exclaimed Daniel, utterly speechless by how much his former commander had done the worst possible thing to make the situation worse. But then again, this was something he should have been used to by now.

"Those aren't tanks! They're bloody battleships!" shouted Jack, correcting Daniel by noting the various turrets on these model of tanks. It was similar to some of the Russian tanks that the two of them fought against during the Soviet-American War.

Once the German tanks were in position they opened fire with their main cannon's. The first shot struck against the hull of the _Edelweiss_, bouncing off. The second one flew right past the tank, striking against the ridge behind it. Welkin immediately took action, heading down into the turret and rotating it to take aim at one of the Medium Imperial tanks. He fired the cannon, and an anti-armor shell flew straight at one of the Imperial tanks, piercing the armor and destroying the front portion of the tank in a fiery blast. The second tank began backing up, firing at the _Edelweiss_ with it's main cannon and two machine guns. However, they were simply deflected off the frontal armor of the tank, barely even denting it.

"Then again, when they go up against Welkin's toy, they blow up just the same," commented Jack, whatever fear he had of the Imperial class tanks officially gone when he saw the _Edelweiss_ was still effective at destroying them as the regular _Wehrmacht_ models.

"How did he even have this thing? Where did it come from?!" asked Natasha.

"It was in his garage. Now if you don't mind, we have some Nazis to kill and a prince to capture so can we please focus on that now?" answered Jack, trying to bring them back to the task at hand. He immediately climbed onto the Edelweiss and looked to Welkin, who was now standing through the turret hatch again.

Tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention, Jack said to him "I hate to say this Welkin but I think we're kind of outmatched. We should get out of here while we can."

"We can't Jack. We've come this far, and we'll go all the way here. Alright everyone, make for the supply base! Stay behind me and Arianna as we advance! Squad 7, move out!" ordered Welkin sounding off the charge. The _Edelweiss_, followed by the _Shamrock Mk II_ moved forward in single file, with the rest of the Squad and the IVB following close behind, using the tanks as cover to protect themselves from the bullets being fired by the Troikas. The remaining Medium Imperial Tank kept on firing with it's main gun, It managed to make contact with each shot, but the armor of the _Edelweiss_ was too impervious to the enemy shells. No matter what the enemy seemed to throw at the _Edelweiss_, the tank continued to keep rolling forward.

Unfortunately it wouldn't last for long. As they moved out from the protection of the ridges, Welkin noticed something that was rather alarming on the other side of the large pond. Placed next to the shed and the pier directly on the parallel side of the pond, the Germans had managed to set up positions in order to flank any enemy units coming up the road. What they placed there was a Flak 88 cannon with a bullet shield as well as a few small sandbag walls with two MG42's placed on tripods behind them. There were about ten German soldiers there and each of them were at their stations and ready, no doubt being alerted by the fighting going on right in front of them. Before Welkin could say anything, the Flak 88 fired, the shell passing nearly three feet in front of Jack and Welkin's heads. Both of them scared, Welkin immediately had the strike force move back behind the ridge. The Flak 88's position allowed it to disable the _Edelweiss_, effectively bringing their advance to a halt. This would allow the Germans to move in and eliminate the remaining members of their group, bringing their plan to a grinding halt. And as the pair of MG42's opened fire, they all scrambled back to cover to try and avoid getting cut to pieces in the crossfire.

Seeing them retreating, the Germans by the outpost decided to take advantage of the situation. The remaining Panzer opened fire on the opening of the road where the two ridges ended. It fired with it's cannon, machine guns, and mortar to discourage the enemy from advancing any further. The Flak 88 and the MG42's did the same, creating a deadly crossfire that would prevent anyone from advancing. And thanks to the nearby supply base, this bombardment could go on for hours, keeping the strike force pinned down. If they didn't do something quickly, then it looked like Lelouch was going to win this battle right then and there.

* * *

German to English translations

1\. "_Wenn du unter der Erde liegst, piss ich auf dein Grab!" _\- When you are lying under the earth, I'll piss on your grave!

**Okay, this is the first part of the battle. Stay tuned for part 2. And if you didn't catch it, the Imperial Class tanks are the Imperial tanks from the original Valkyria Chronicles game. **

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	83. The Battle of the Ardennes Part-2

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Meanwhile, not that far away_

As Welkin and the main part of the strike force began their attack on the main defenses of the German supply base, Alicia, Lucina, Ramal, and Faldio lead Squad 1 and the ALF rebels down the animal trail so that they could sneak upon the base's vulnerable flank. They made their way through the tall grass, along the path the animals had made by trampling down the grass and eating them. Using it, they would be able to sneak past the Germans without them even noticing that they were there. They moved forward with speed but also with stealth as to make sure any cautious German wasn't easily tipped off to their location. Hopefully Welkin's attack was doing a very good job at distracting Prince Lelouch's forces so that they could do their part of the mission. And judging from the sounds of the battle going on nearby, it seemed like Welkin and the others were doing a pretty good job at that.

"They've started. So far so good. Let's just hope that the situation doesn't change anytime soon," commented Lucina, as she lead the group forward, her Kar98k rifle aimed forward.

However, the situation was different for some of the members of this group, primarily for Alicia and Faldio. Things were still tense between them since the whole incident between them back in Fort Drakon. And Alicia, following Lucina was trying to just focus on the mission. But it was kind of hard to do that with Faldio behind her as he was trying to get her attention, which drove her mad to no end. After each time he tried to talk to her, she simply replied with "Please refrain from talking Lieutenant Lanzaat", over and over again. Their whole conversation went something similar to this.

"Alicia, has anyone told you that you're an interesting girl?" asked Faldio.

"Please refrain from talking Lieutenant Landzaat," muttered Alicia in an irritated yet professional tone.

"Oh, you're calling me Lieutenant Landzaat again. Whatever happened to Faldio?" commented Faldio as he smiled a bit from enjoying this little game.

"Please refrain from talking," repeated Alicia.

Faldio, not even slightly fazed, continued with "You know, you've kind of like a Valkyrur from ancient times."

"Please refrain from talking," repeated Alicia, this time through her teeth.

"A normal man just wouldn't be able to approach you. Almost like you were some kind of holy relic they were forbidden to touch," added Faldio.

"Please just stop talking," gritted Alicia, with Faldio really beginning to get on her nerves now. And hers wasn't the only one. Lucina had the misfortune of having to listen to this whole conversation that was going on behind her. They had a mission to perform that was critical to the success of this whole operation and yet these two just wouldn't stop with this ridiculous conversation. If this kept up, then they didn't need to start a firefight with the Germans in order for them to blow their position. All the Germans would need to do was just to be observant enough to listen to them. If those two didn't shut up then and now, then Lucina would shut them up herself. And she would do that by either pointing her gun at them or just deciding to leave them tied to a tree. Her patience was at it's end when they yet again continued their little argument.

"You know if you would just-" started Faldio as he couldn't be able to finish his sentence before Alicia turned around quickly to confront him, having now reached her limit on this whole conversation.

"What part of stop talking did you not understand?! Are you really that dense that you can't a hint!" screamed Alicia, bringing the whole group to a halt.

It was at this point that Lucina decided to take action. She interrupted the conversation, turning Alicia towards her and explaining "If you two keep this up, the Germans will be able to hear you all the way from Berlin. So in the kindest way I can say this...I want you both to shut the hell up."

The two of them listened to her, knowing full well that she had ways of backing up her talk. With the knowledge that she was capable of Jack's nose with one solid punch like she did at Mullow, as well as seeing her fight with gun and sword at the scrapyard, the two of them weren't exactly keen on facing her wrath. And that was just enough for them to instantly stop this and allow the group to continue. And with Lucina giving the signal, they all continued down the trail, moving slightly faster in order to make up on the lost time they wasted on this lousy conversation. They moved further and as they did, they noticed that the sounds from the explosions seemed to be louder and were getting much more frequent. Something was going on the main entrance.

Reaching an area where they could part the grass to see the advance, they did so and saw that the Germans had them pinned down and caught within a crossfire. They were being shot at from the main German defenses at the outpost from Troika's and an Medium class Imperial tank, and were also being shot at from a nearby Flak 88 and a pair of MG42's from a nearby shed and pier. The whole attack had been stalled completely in it's tracks. Looks like the Black Prince really was ready and waiting for them. They needed both parts of their group to accomplish their task in order for this mission to succeed. And if Squad 7 and the IVB couldn't move further, then the whole mission was screwed.

As they watched this happen, one of the ALF rebels under Lucina's command rushed forward to the front of the group. He had a backpack radio strapped to his back which was connected to the radio on the _Shamrock Mk II_. Lucina noticed him with the handheld speaker in his hand, clearly indicating that Welkin had instructed some of his men to try and establish contact with the second group of the strike force immediately. So Lucina took the speaker and spoke into it, asking "What's going on down there?"

She was surprised when she heard Jack's voice, replying with _"Oh you know, everything is fine. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, everything is peachy! Except for the fact that, oh I don't know...**THAT** **WE'RE PINNED DOWN BY A BUNCH OF PISSED OF NAZIS!**" _

"We know. We can see it all happening from the animal trail," noted Lucina.

_"Then maybe you can do something to help! We can't move forward without getting cut to pieces by the crossfire!" _said Arianna, apparently having taken the speaker out of Jack's hand as it was her voice that replaced Jack's.

"How did it even get this bad?" asked Faldio, quickly speaking into the radio.

_"Your American friend here made them angry," _answered Arianna in an annoyed tone as she no doubt looked to Jack when she said that.

_"Hey! I said I was sorry! What do you want?! Flowers?! An apology?! A damn present wrapped in silver bow?! Alicia, Faldio, just do something before the Nazis end up killing us all!" _yelled Jack as he tried to defend himself in his usual manner before cutting the transmission, ending the conversation. Lucina pinched her brow at this, almost blaming herself for not figuring out that it was Jack that made this whole situation worse. That was a talent he had: to take a situation and somehow managing to make it seem more impossible and hard than it already was. And once again he succeeded in that. Now it was up to Alicia, Lucina, and Faldio's group to try and fix this situation and try to salvage this mission. Something that Alicia soon figured out how to do.

She looked further down the animal trail and found that it ran right behind the German positions at the shed and pier. If the group continued forward, they could take out the Germans from behind, knocking them out completely and allowing Welkin and the rest of the Strike force to push onward to the German supply base. Pointing this out to Faldio, Ramal, and Lucina, they all quickly moved down the trail with several soldiers in Squad 1 as well as a few of Lucina's ALF rebels. Despite the rustling they made from moving through the tall grass, the deafening noise of the MG42's and the Flak 88 cannon managed to mask any noise they made, allowing them to sneak up, virtually undetected. When they reached the rear of the German lines, the found the animal trail sank down into the ground, creating a waist deep trench line that they could use as cover.

Faldio and Ramal, as well as the small group of soldiers that followed them down took positions in the shallow trench while Lucina and Alicia his behind the shed along with a Squad 1 soldier with a BAR light machine gun. From their positions, they managed to get a good look at the German positions. They had their Flak 88 placed to the shed's left, and the MG42's were on the pier directly in front of the cannon. Every German soldier was manning their weapons and firing at the pinned down Squad 7 and IVB soldiers. They were all focused on them, completely oblivious to the fact that there were enemy troops behind them. It was likely that they weren't expecting the Gallians would be able to flank them at all and they most likely thought that it was safe where they were. Little did they know that they were about to have their whole day ruined by a few people that managed to get the jump on them. There were a little over ten soldiers, so if they acted quickly, they could be able to take them out quickly and without much difficulty.

Peeking from cover, Lucina took aim with her rifle at the two German soldiers manning the Flak 88 cannon. They were currently reloading it to fire yet another shot at the pinned down strike force members. Just as they managed to finish loading the shot into the cannon, Lucina fired a shot from her rifle, killing one of the gunners with a shot to the head. The second gunner, seeing his comrade get shot, looked to the source of the gunshot and saw Lucina with her rifle as she pulled the bolt back and reloaded another shot. The German managed to shout out _"Alarm!"_, alerting the other soldiers of the threat behind them before he was silenced by another shot from Lucina's rifle, this time, hitting him the German in the chest.

By now, whatever chance they had about catching the Germans off guard was now gone in an instant. The eight remaining Germans abandoned the MG42's, and grabbed their other weapons before quickly turning around and taking up position behind some sandbags placed near the Flak 88 and soon they began firing randomly into the tall grass, not sure where the enemy was but was hoping that they would actually hit something. After dodging their first volley of shots, Faldio and the rest of his group returned fire, engaging the Germans in a shootout. At least the Germans weren't firing at Squad 7, and thus now the crossfire was officially done, they just needed to deal with the rest of the German forces and they would be able to continue on towards the supply base. Hopefully they would be able to finish this up, and do it fast.

As the two sides were engaged in a shootout, the Squad 1 soldier with a BAR quietly moved around the shed to the right to try and sneak up on the German flank so that she would be able to pick off a few of them before they could react. As she managed to get to the edge of the shed, she slowly popped out of cover and began to take aim with her BAR. However, it seemed that the Germans also thought of that idea, and two of them, One armed with an MP-40 and one with a Kar98k with a mounted bayonet laid in wait to ambush and kill any Gallians that tried to take them out this way. The moment they saw the Gallian peak out of cover, the German armed with the MP-40 opened fire with a burst of automatic fire. The bullets missed the Squad 1 member, hitting the shed and causing the Gallian to quickly jump back behind cover.

The two Germans moved towards the shed to try and take her out for good, but the Gallian quickly popped out and fired a quick burst, which scored direct hits on the German armed with the MP-40, killing him as he then collapsed on the ground. The other German managed to get to the shed, hiding behind the adjacent wall, just feet away from the Gallian soldier. Readying his rifle, he knelt down and took aim, ready to shoot. Once the Squad 1 soldier stepped out of cover to try and hit another German, she was shot by the Kar98k wielding soldier and fell on her back, still alive but with blood pouring out of her gunshot wound to the chest. The German than quickly got up, approached the Gallian, and stabbed her several times with the mounted bayonet on his rifle, killing her once and for all.

When she was finished, the German advanced back the way the Gallian came to try and do the same thing that she attempted to do. He snuck towards the Gallian lines, hoping to pop off a shot at them. But as he was moving forward, the several other members of Squad 1 watching from the animal trail further down, opened fire on the German, killing him as he slumped against the wall and slid down, creating a streak of blood on the side of the shed as he slid down. So far, the Germans had managed to kill at least one Gallian while the combined Gallian and ALF force have managed to take out about four, leaving about six left to deal with.

Faldio already had a plan. Taking Ramal and two other members of Squad 1, both armed with Gallian-M4 rifles, they burst out of the trench and ran straight for the Flak 88 cannon. As they jumped out, one of the Germans threw a stick grenade into the trenches, landing behind the three ALF rebels that remained in the trenches. Unaware of the grenade, it exploded a few seconds later, killing the three rebels as Lucina watched in horror. She had seen plenty of her men killed by the Germans before, and having to see so much death at her age was a tragedy all by itself. And seeing each death that she had to watch hurt her just as much as the next.

The remaining Germans held their ground, firing at Faldio's group as they took cover behind the Flak 88. Faldio then moved his plan into motion. He, Ramal, and his troops waited for the Germans to all be firing out of cover in order to enact their plan. Once they were, Faldio pulled out a grenade and not priming it to explode, tossed it so that it would land behind the Germans. Seeing a grenade tossed at them, the Germans assumed that it was armed, not even looking at it when it landed to see that it wasn't even primed to go off. They all bolted out of cover and moved forward to avoid what they thought would be an explosion. And as they passed by the Flak 88 on their run they turned to face Faldio and his men in order to try and shoot them. But Faldio was ready for them and as the Germans appeared before them they let loose with gunfire, quickly cutting the Germans down to size, ending this little skirmish. Faldio's two riflemen moved forward, checking to make sure the Germans were down for good.

With the Flak 88 and this position out of the picture, Welkin's group could be able to push forward towards the main German defenses. However, before they could do anything, a mortar shot suddenly struck near Faldio's two men. The shrapnel from the blast as well as the shock wave killed them instantly, meanwhile causing Faldio and Ramal to fall flat on the backs, slightly disoriented. The mortar shot came from the Medium class Imperial tank which had noticed the fighting going on there and turned around to face them. After having taken out the two Squad 1 soldiers under Faldio's command, it was now going to try and take out the rest of them. Managing to get back on their feet, Faldio saw that the Panzer's main turret was turning and aiming straight at them. The two quickly moved and ran as fast as they could back to the shallow trench alongside Alicia and Lucina as the Medium Imperial tank fired. The shot missed, instead hitting the Flak 88, destroying it and rendering it virtually useless. Before the tank could even train its cannon to fire on the Gallians again, an armor piercing shell from the _Edelweiss_, whom Welkin moved out of cover, hit the tank on the side, severely damaging it.

And Arianna, not willing to be outdone, pulled the _Shamrock Mk II_ out of cover as well to line up a shot. Once the target was acquired, she fired the main 37 millimeter cannon. The shell struck the main turret of the Medium Imperial tank, blowing it to pieces as the armor was already weakened from the shock of the first hit caused by the _Edelweiss_. Seeing their last tank taken out, the Germans manning the defenses outside the outpost retreated back inside to try and put up a better defense. They had to keep the strike force from getting to the supply base at all costs.

Sensing an opportunity, Welkin ordered for them to advance upon the outpost. From across the pond, Lucina, Alicia, Faldio, and Ramal looked to see both tanks leading the charge supported by the members of Squad 7 as well as the IVB officers. Even from this distance across the pond, they could see them all giving the Germans a run for their money as they pushed into the outpost, taking the fighting much closer to the supply base, now not far ahead. Seeing them continue on with their advance, the four of them signaled for the remaining members of their group to follow them as they moved back down the animal trail as fast as they could in order to catch up on the time that they've already lost.

* * *

_Meanwhile, at the German supply base_

"What do you mean we're being overrun?!" cried out Colonel Isaac as he and Lightning just heard from one of the German soldiers that the second force of soldiers sent to take out this base were actually making headway against them. They were in the command center of the supply base while the battle is being waged not far from their current position. The two of them just couldn't believe how they were being beaten like this. They all but completely wiped out the task force lead by Baldren and Audrey Gassenarl not a few days ago when they tried to take out the base, and now here was another force, this time lead by Welkin Gunther, the man that their boss had helped lure here, that was just plowing straight through all their defenses. Apparently, Lieutenant Gunther was everything that they had heard of and wondered just what Prince Lelouch would think about this when they tell him about it.

"We're trying Colonel! But we can't stop them!" said the German soldier, trying to explain the situation to them as best as he could.

"How did they even get past the Flak 88?! That should have stopped them dead in their tracks!" pointed out Lightning. They placed that gun there to make sure that Welkin Gunther's supposedly invincible tank would be knocked out for good. How he was even able to make it past that was something that they needed to know.

"Some Gallians and fighters from the ALF managed to sneak behind them using some kind of hidden trail. They took out the crews and the gun," explained the German soldier, hoping that this would be enough information for him not to earn the wrath of his commanders. Almost instantly after he heard that, Isaac looked at the map of the base and the surroundings. Serving under Lelouch for over three years and learning from him gave Isaac a rather good insight into military tactics and how to outwit your foe when in the heat of battle. Looking to the position that they had the Flak 88 on, he did notice that there was room for a small trail that can be used to move a group of infantry if they went in a single filed line. He then followed where the perceived trail would go through, and found out that it ended right at the side of the supply base. His eyes widened in realization on the fact that whoever took out their positions at the pond would be able to hit them right on their vulnerable flank.

Without a moment's hesitation, Isaac looked to the soldier and ordered him "Get everyone on this base on alert! All guards are to prepare defensive positions at once! Get any machine gun, AT cannon, everything we have! They want this base, they're gonna have to take it from us!"

"Yes sir!" responded the German soldier with a salute before rushing out of the office to get the other guards to follow his orders.

"What is it Isaac? What do you see that I don't?" inquired Lightning, wanting to know what Colonel Isaac knew.

Looking to her, he told her "We're about to have a lot of company. And we got to hold them off long enough for the boss's plan to work."

* * *

_At the end of the Animal Trail, on the outskirts of the German Supply Base_

Squad 1 and the ALF rebels lead by Alicia, Lucina, Faldio, and Ramal had managed to reach the end of the animal trail. They held their positions behind the tree trunks, bushes, and large rocks of the edge of the forest, with the fence separating them from the supply base just a hundred yards away. The ground in between was pretty much open ground with only a few scattered foxholes in the area. Not much cover for a unit of their size. This would make them vulnerable to any enemy fire if they were discovered before they got inside. And considering that two manned watchtowers were overlooking the open field, it was highly likely that they would be spotted before they ever got close to the fence with wire cutters. Also, from their elevated position, the Germans would be able to pick off the Gallians as they made their way to the fence. So if they were going to do this, then they would have to get this done quickly by first taking out the Germans manning the watchtowers and to cut through the fence before German reinforcements came into the area. And the thought that was running through each of the group member's minds was that this wasn't going to be easy.

And as they looked to the German base, Faldio noticed looked over to see that Alicia seemed rather nervous about this. He did note that she had been a little hesitant as of late to head into fights. From what he remembered, Welkin told them that she was pretty shook up from an event that happened in Vasel during Operation: Cloudburst. It came from he realization that the soldiers she was fighting weren't just veterans from the Border Skirmishes, but young recruits that were their age and no more different than them. And it seemed that the event had finally caught up with her as she seemed very reluctant to take part in the assault, as she was worried about seeing the same sight that she saw back in Vasel.

To get her attention, he grabbed her by shoulder, shook it a bit, and asked her "Hey, you okay there?"

At first, Alicia didn't even seem to hear Faldio's question. But after a little while, she eventually spoke up, replying in an unconvincing tone "Y-yeah. I'm fine here."

"I don't think you are," said Faldio, clearly able to see through her lie. This surprised her, more than she thought it would, as she instnatly turned her head to face Faldio.

"You need to be brave when you do this. When others see you as nervous, it makes them feel nervous as well. A nervous commander has an affect upon an army," noted Faldio, his words holding a bit of wisdom in them.

When it comes to war, seeing someone as nervous can be a contagious thing. Morale would become a shaky thing and in combat, they would end up losing it that much faster. A commander needed to appear confident in order to inspire his men and keep their morale up as high as he could. But it just wasn't that easy for Alicia who had seen just how good people could get killed in this war. She saw a lot of terrible things happen. Bruhl, Vasel, the Air Raid on Randgriz, every battle she saw some terrible act committed in the course of this blasted war. She just couldn't think how it was possible to win this war with everything that was stacked up against them.

Almost as if he could see past her into what she was thinking, Faldio continued with "You don't have to do this alone you know. We're all right behind you. Trust me, we'll get the job done."

Somehow, those words seemed to calm down Alicia. And Faldio did have a point...though she wasn't that willing to admit that at the present time. In all the time she was thinking of the horror and the bloodshed that this war caused, she seemed to sometimes forget that she wasn't going through this alone. Squad 7, the ALF, Squad 1, the IVB, and thousands and thousands of others were all in this fight together. And a soldier was only as strong as the one beside them. Alicia seemed to forget that there were those willing to stand beside her and fight through this. She wasn't going through this alone, she never was. It seems that she just seemed to forget it with all that was going on.

As this happened, Lucina snuck over to them and informed them "Lieutenant Gunther and his men are getting close. They'll be upon the main gate any minute. If we're going to do this, then we have to do this now."

"Let's just hope the Prince hasn't already fled. I'd love to be the one to put the cuffs on him," commented Faldio as he readied his Gallian Mauser 1889, loading it with a full clip of bullets. He was looking forward to seeing the look on Prince Lelouch's face when they dragged out the supposedly 'unbeatable' General from his headquarters and put him in a POW camp. Even though he was Jack's childhood friend, the fact that at this moment he was their enemy took precedence over that.

"Well then, let's get going," encouraged Ramal.

The unit soon began to move out of the forest and towards the fence that separated them from the interior of the supply base. The moment they begin rushing towards the fence, the Germans manning the two watchtowers looked towards them and opened fire with the mounted MG42's. They fired upon the runners, killing several of them with precise bursts of fire before they even got halfway to the fence. One of them took aim and gunned down two soldiers of Squad 1 but had to reload when it ran out of ammo. Taking advantage of that, Faldio took aim with his rifle and fired a clean shot, striking the German in the neck, knocking him down for the count. A member of the ALF took out a _Panzerfaust_ and prepared to fire it at the remaining tower. However the German manning the machine gun saw this and gunned him down with a burst of fire. The German was going to continue to fire but thankfully, one of the Lancers from Squad 1 took aim and fired a rocket at the watchtower, striking the tower which blew it and the German gunner to pieces.

With the gunners now out of commission, Faldio had his Engineers get to work on cutting the fence so they could move through. It was at this moment that they heard the rumbling sound of tanks within the base. Welkin and the rest of the strike force had managed to bust through the main gate and were now fighting within the base itself. Now it was time for the ALF and Squad 1 to regroup and join the party. And with the Engineers finally able to cut through the fence and pulled down the cut section, big enough for them all to pass. As they did so, they spotted the Germans were now rolling out the big guns. Specifically they were bringing out a one hundred and fifty millimeter sIG 33 infantry gun, a cannon of sorts. The only thing was that they placed it in between two large warehouses, and pointed the barrel directly at their position by the fence.

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**And we're done with part two of the Battle of the Ardennes. The supply base has some pretty serious weaponry stored there so it may be a challenge to take it out. Just for the record, an infantry gun is different from field artillery. It's a cannon designed to support infantry attacks, but it's kind of useless against a tank. Same can't be said for some of the other things they have in order to protect the base.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	84. The Battle of the Ardennes Part-3

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_"By the time we had reached the supply base itself, this was were the Nazi resistance became the most determined. We didn't know where Lelouch was in this base, or even if he was even there at all. But what we did know was that if he was, these soldiers would resort to desperate measures in order to keep their Prince safe from harm. And it seemed like they were pulling everything they could find in their warehouses in order to do so. I was with Squad 7 and the IVB officers as we assaulted the base via the main gate. From there, we seemed to encounter the bulk of the remaining German garrison. _

_They pulled together whatever Panzers they had left to face us, mainly two Panzer IV's, and a Jagdtiger, most likely the one from the Gassenarl attack that they managed to salvage from the river. They were taking potshots at the Edelweiss and the Shamrock Mk II which were using the buildings for cover as they occasionally peaked out and fired a shot at the tanks before hiding back behind cover. It seemed we had managed to get their attention, though I was secretly wishing that we didn't. Several members Squad 7 were already injured as well as the French Officer Henri Defense. Add in the fact that we were almost running low on ammo. I just hoped that Alicia's group was better luck than we were at the moment. They couldn't be facing anything as bad as we were now that we had the Germans full attention. I mean honestly, what kind of trouble could they be possibly facing?" - Jack Lawrence_

"Fire!" shouted the German gunner as he and his two men fire the sIG 33 infantry cannon at Squad 1 and the ALF rebels which were merely a dozen yards away. With that kind of gun they were using that would have been considered to be point blank range for it. The shell thundered out of the cannon at a fast speed, flying fast the combined forces and striking at the forest outskirts, exploding in a large fireball once the high explosive shell made contact with the ground. The militiamen and the rebels immediately took cover behind the walls of the buildings as their advance became stalled. They tried to fire upon the artillery crew from cover but the bullet shield attached to the gun was preventing them from landing clean shots upon the crew. Also add in to the fact that several other German troops moved to take up defensive positions in order to defend the infantry cannon as the crew reloaded the gun to fire another shot.

"Just when things seem easy, the Germans line up another obstacle in our way," grunted Faldio, annoyed by how much they had to go through just to take this base already. The Germans seem to have a knack at making obstacles to constantly block or otherwise delay their enemy from reaching their objective. Over time, it can make any commander grow fiercely annoyed. However, there was another opportunity for them. A few men and women could deal with the gun crew while the rest of the ALF rebels and Squad 1 would be able to simply move around it and take the fight deeper into the supply base, putting the Germans further on the defensive. All they needed to do was assign the people to take out the infantry cannon.

And as the cannon fired another shot, once again missing but was closer this time to actually hitting them, Faldio looked to the soldiers and ordered "Everyone head inside! Keep the Germans occupied and get relieve the pressure of Welkin's unit! Ramal and I will deal with the cannon!"

"I'll help as well. Can't let you all have the glory," commented Lucina with a smirk on her face.

"Hey, don't leave me out here. You're not getting rid of me that easy," added Alicia, standing behind Lucina.

And with the team designated to take out the cannon now assigned, all that was needed was to distract it long enough for the members of Squad 1 and the ALF to get inside without being blasted to pieces by the cannon. So after observing the Germans loading the cannon, and determining the time to act was now. The four of them popped out of cover and opened fire upon the artillery crew and the Germans defending them. They managed to take out one with the remaining soldiers taking cover behind the gun shield and any nearby crates. While they kept the Germans distracted, the rest of the ALF and Squad 1 flooded into the opening in the fence, spreading out and taking several different routes, looking to bring pressure on the Germans even more. By the time they all entered and went their separate ways, they left Alicia, Ramal, Faldio, and Lucina to deal with the cannon crew. Once the others were out of the way, the four of them moved forward and lined up behind the wall of one of the warehouses as the Germans guarding the cannon, three in all, were slowly advancing upon their position. They were two soldiers, armed with Gewehr-43's, and an officer armed with a Luger pistol.

The first thing they had to do was to take out the Germans approaching them, then to take out the cannon crew. The only question was how they were going to do it and who was going to help do it. Before they could even decide on that, Lucina had decided for them. Handing her rifle to Ramal, she unsheathed her sword and told them "Leave this to me."

"You can't take them all on by yourself!" said Alicia, concerned for her safety.

Lucina merely looked back with a confident look on her face before replying "Never underestimate an Archanean Alicia."

Wondering what she meant like that, Alicia and the boys watched as Lucina snuck up to the edge of the wall as the German soldiers, with their weapons still drawn and ready, neared the same corner and prepared to attack. Seizing her moment, Alicia jumped out of cover and plunged her sword deep into the German officer's chest, with it going all the way through and coming out of his back with the blade coated in the German officer's blood. The two soldiers accompanying the officer opened fire with their rifles in an attempt to kill Lucina. However, she used the now dead German officer as a shield, protecting her from the bullets. In a split second, she used her boot to push the German away from her, pulling her blade out as well. The push forced the German back until he landed on the ground near the feet of the two German soldiers whom back up to try and avoid having their dead superior fall on them.

As the German officer fell dead, Lucina lunged forward to one of the Germans. Using her sword, she knocked the rifle out of his hand with one swing and a split second later, she swung again, this time across the neck, killing him with a swift and precise strike. Moving on to the next German, she sliced him at the leg, creating a deep gash that caused the German to grunt in pain while lowering his guard as he tried to deal with the wound. Lucina finished him off with a few quick slashes across the torso. With the three German soldiers down, Lucina moved onto the German artillery crew. By now the Germans had reloaded the cannon and aimed it directly at her, hoping to end the ALF leader with one big shot. Lucina, seeing this, jumped out of the way before the German's fired the cannon. It fired too late as the shot merely flew past the corner of the building, nearly hitting Alicia, Ramal, and Faldio, and exploded once it hit a tree in the forest.

With that advantage now gone, Lucina moved forward to finish off the crew. One of the artillery crew pulled out his Luger pistol to try and take down Lucina put she merely swatted it out of his hand and knocked him out cold with a hit on the head with the pommel of her sword before pulling out her Nagant revolver and shooting him twice in the chest. While this happened, the remaining crewman tried to run away but Lucina trained her revolver and on him and with three shots, cut him down as well. With the Germans gone, the three remaining members came out of hiding and rejoined with Lucina.

"Never saw anyone take out a cannon like that before," commented Ramal as he handed her back the Kar98k she gave him earlier.

"In a resistance, you have to learn to adapt. Otherwise your enemy will be able to predict all your actions," replied Lucina as she took the rifle.

"Alright, let's move. Welkin and the others are going to need out help," pointed out Faldio. The three of them nodded in agreement as they rushed off towards the battle taking place deeper into the supply base.

* * *

At the main entrance of the base, Squad 7 was pinned down by the German forces. With most of the unit pinned down, the Germans began coming at them from the alleys in between the warehouses in an attempt to flank them. This effort stretched the Gallian and IVB soldiers thin, but thanks to Squad 1 and the ALF causing chaos on the base's flank, some of the German troops left to deal with the threat. This alleviated some of the pressure on Squad 7 but it still caused them to feel the pressure of the German attack against them. To say they underestimated the German defenses would have been putting it lightly. They needed a way to push forward and fast, otherwise they would end up running out of the last of their ammunition. In one area of the fight, the IVB were putting up a fight at one of they alley's as they held off German troops that were armed with Kar98k bolt-action rifles.

Using her Mosin-Nagant rifle, Natasha lined up on a German soldier and fired, hitting him dead center in the chest. She quickly popped back into cover to reload another shot into her rifle. Once she did so, she moved back out to take down another German when suddenly, one of them who hand managed to sneak up in front of her hit her in the face with the butt of his rifle, stunning her and knocking her down onto the ground with her dropping her rifle in the process. The German then knelt down and tried to strangle her with his rifle, crushing it against her throat. Natasha pushed back on the rifle, trying to prevent him from doing so while also trying to get him off of her as well. However, the German was slightly stronger than her and he was winning this little fight as slowly but surely the rifle began to push harder down against her throat, beginning to suffocate Natasha as she struggled to breath. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't push this guy off of her.

Suddenly, a burst of fire hit the German, killing him and causing him to collapse on Natasha, pinning her to the ground. As the German landed on her, she silently admitted to herself "This is _so_ not how I imagine my day would go."

As she tried to get the German off of her, someone came up and grabbing the German by his jacket, pulled him off for her. That person who shot the Germans and was helping to pick him off of her was none other than Sergeant Daniel Marks who helped her back up and commented "Sorry for having him land on you. I saw him trying to kill you and just reacted. Sorry."

"Thanks anyway. Guess I owe you one now," commented Natasha as she picked back up her dropped Mosin-Nagant rifle.

"Just keep killing Nazis. You can make it up to me later," replied Daniel, as he and Natasha popped out of cover and returned fire back at the German troops.

* * *

Meanwhile, Coby Caird and Catherine O'Hara were dealing with German forces alongside with Noce and Susie were managing to hold their own as they were clearing one of the warehouses of German troops that were occupying it. The warehouse was stocked with crates and barrels filled with medical supplies, rations, blankets, and other such useful items that the German military was housing here. Hopefully by the end of this battle, there would still be some supplies that were still salvageable so that they can use them for their own purposes. All they needed to do first was deal with the German troops. A task that was much easier said than done.

In this fight, Coby and Catherine were hiding behind two large crates while Noce and Susie were a little bit behind them hiding behind some barrels. There were two German soldiers in the warehouse, and they were keeping the group pinned down with combined firepower from their MP-40's. And every once in a while, Coby, Catherine, and Noce would return fire as they reloaded, but the crates the two Germans were using for cover managed to protect them from the Gallian bullets. If neither side broke the deadlock soon, they would soon run out of bullets and would have to resort to using their melee weapons to clear the others out.

"I'm starting to think we're in deep trouble!" commented Noce as he fired another shot from his Gallian Mauser 1889, nearly hitting the German as he peeked his head out.

"What gave you that idea? The fact that we're facing off a German prince or the fact that his army's tougher than you thought?!" said Coby, mocking Noce's question.

"Probably a bit of both in his case!" added Catherine as she fires her last shot and begins searching her pouches for any ammo that she had left. Meanwhile, Noce looked to once again see that Susie was breathing heavily as she continued to hide behind cover without even taking a part in the fight because of her pacifist beliefs. Ever since back when the Squad set out for Vasel a while ago, she has simply been hiding away behind cover while everyone else risked their lives. Though she was his friend and all, he wasn't just going to have her hide like a coward like this. This is war and she was a soldier in the Gallian Militia. There was no room for pacifism when in situations like this. It was either they kill the Germans, or the Germans would end up killing them. And it was time that Susie learned that lesson, whether she wanted to or not.

So he grabbed her by the uniform, pulled her close to his face, and when he was staring right at her and he shouted "Will you just start shooting for God's sake?!"

"But-but I can't! I can't hurt anyone! You know that!" spouted out Susie, unsure as to what brought this change of attitude from Noce.

"If you don't shoot, then you, and I are going to die here! These guys don't have your beliefs! They are trying to kill you! So for once just shoot them! Shoot them before they shoot you!" shouted Noce, trying to make their situation as clear as possible for her to understand.

Susie didn't know how to respond to this. She had never seen Noce this angry with her before. She _had_ seen him mad before, but not on a level as bad as this. She simply stood there, frozen in fear as she tried to think of a way as to how to respond to this. Suddenly, one of the Germans opened fire on the two of them with his MP-40, firing away at the crates, hoping that he would be able to kill them. Feeling the breaking point, Susie unexpectedly popped out of cover, and with her eyes closed, she fired blindly at the German with her Gallian-M4, emptying the whole magazine in a few seconds before instantly ducking back down. With her eyes closed, she didn't see that three of her shots managed to hit the German, with two striking in the chest and one in the abdomen. With those hits, the German fell backwards, dead before he even hit the floor.

Susie soon started breathing fast and began to quake from fear. All of this happened she tried to come to terms with what she had just done. Though she didn't see what had happened, she had a pretty good idea as to what had happened. For the first time in her life she had harmed a living being. This was something that she swore that she would never do as long as she lived. And now...now she had broken that rule. And it took a war to make that happen. Noce, feeling somewhat guilty over what he had done when he saw what he had done to his friend, tried to comfort her. But when he touched her on the shoulder, she flinched, moving away from him.

Meanwhile, Coby moved forward with his Lewis Gun in order to take out the last German soldier. He was expecting Catherine to cover him, but she had a problem: she was out of bullets. That was a sniper's worst nightmare. When you're out of bullets, there was absolutely no way to defend one's self with an unloaded gun. And Catherine had bad experiences with this kind of situation back during the Great War. One such experience cost her the life of someone close to her. And now she was frantically searching each of her pouches over and over again as she tried to find at least one single bullet that she can load her rifle with. However, it seemed that unlike what she was hoping for, she had run out of bullets.

As Coby reached the crate, the German unexpectedly popped out and smacked him on the head with his MP-40, causing Coby to stumble backwards and turn slightly from the blow. The German took advantage of this and kicked Coby down on the ground by hitting him in his bad back. Coby landed on the wooden floor hard as he stiffened from the pain. As the German aimed his weapon at Coby and was about to open fire on the old man, Noce quickly realized this and fired a shot, killing the German soldier before he could kill Coby. As he slowly managed to get back up, despite the pain his back was in, Coby looked to Noce and grunted in pain "Thanks kid. Ow."

* * *

As the three German tanks kept Squad 7 pinned down, the tanks of the Squad had to use the buildings for cover while they could only peek out and quickly fire before they would have to retreat back behind the warehouses to avoid being hit by the _Jagdtiger_ or the two Panzer IV's flanking it. They needed to do something in order to break the deadlock or else they couldn't push to the German command center. Luckily for them, Arianna, commander of their Shamrock Mk II, along with her other two crewmen, Leon and Kreis, had come up with an idea. Using their tanks maneuverability and speed, they can make up for it's lack of armor and weaponry and be able to flank the German tanks and be able to turn the tide of the fight. As the rest of the squad continued to fight the Germans, Leon moved the _Shamrock_ at Arianna's orders around some of the warehouses until they arrived on the flank on the Panzer IV that was positioned next to the _Jagdtiger's_ left. Even with the armored skirts the Panzer had on it to try and protect itself, it was still possible for the _Shamrock_ to knock it out if they aimed for just the right spot.

"Move us into firing position Leon," ordered Arianna as she took control of the main gun.

"On it boss," replied Leon as he used the steering wheel to move the _Shamrock_ and point it directly at the weaker armor of the Panzer IV.

"Loading AP round," announced Kreis as he took a thirty-seven millimeter armor-piercing shell from the rack and loaded it into the gun for Arianna to use.

Once it was loaded inside, Arianna looked down the scope to line up a shot. Looking through the scope, she tried to determine just where she would be able to score a hit on the tank with the caliber gun that the _Shamrock Mk II_ was equipped with. She soon found a place where she could do so. It was the area in between the turret and the chassis of the Panzer. However, the target wasn't exactly big so the shot would have to be well aimed and timed in order for it to be precise. But if she managed to make this shot, then the tank would be knocked out of action completely. So with a steady hand and holding her breath, Arianna fired the cannon, sending the thirty-millimeter shell flying out of the barrel. The shell streaked through the air and struck the area between the turret and the chassis, right on the mark. It pierced through the thin metal plating, entering the inside compartment of the Panzer, exploding once inside. The blast killed the crew and demolished the interior. The force of the blast was so great that the turret seemed to jump off the rivets that attached it to the chassis. One of the German tanks was now officially taken out of the fight.

Seeing that their shot managed to make a difference, the three member crew of the _Shamrock Mk II_ let out a cheer at the sight of the knocked out Panzer IV. Grabbing the radio, Arianna contacted Welkin who was inside the_ Edelweiss_ to inform him of the news. She spoke into the radio, saying "Boss, one less Nazi tank in your way thanks to us. Should have seen us. It was one hell of a shot!"

_"Noted. Alright Squad, let's finish the rest of the Germans. Then find the Prince. Squad 7, move out!" _replied Welkin, noting how vulnerable the Germans were at this point. Taking advantage of the situation, he moved the _Edelweiss_ out of cover and Squad 7 moved out as well, pushing up the front lines with the tank as the Germans started to pull back. The remaining Panzer IV and the _Jagdtiger_ pulled back with the remaining infantry as they began a fighting retreat to the rear exit of the base. As they retreated, they would momentarily take a few seconds to stop and fire a random shot at the Gallians, hoping to slow them down. Meanwhile, Welkin did the same, bringing the _Edelweiss_ to a halt before taking aim at the last Panzer IV and firing a single armor piercing shell at it. The shell struck the tank dead center, piercing it's armor and knocking the Panzer completely out of action.

And with the Panzer IV taken care of, it was time to deal with the _Jagdtiger_. Welkin knew that his shell couldn't take out the tank's front armor so he opted for an alternative method to take it out. Welkin aimed the cannon at one of the _Jagdtiger's_ tracks and fired, knocking it's tracks out of commission. With the tank now immobilized, the Panzer crew decided to bail out again of their tank and flee for their lives, joining the German infantry as they made a fighting retreat out of the base. With much of the German's strength now completely depleted, it appeared that the supply base would soon be in Gallian hands. And hopefully the Black Prince would be in their hands as well. Either way, this was going to be a good day for the Gallians, and a terrible one for the Germans.

* * *

_At the rear exit to the base_

Colonel Isaac had his troops finish loading whatever supplies they into the back of the trucks and half-tracks that they could save before they would eventually be overrun by the enemy. Though the loss of this base would hinder German operations in the Central Front, Isaac took comfort in knowing that he had accomplished his Prince's directive. He had brought Squad 7 here instead of on the Central Front where his master was. Now all the he needed was to evacuate and meet up with General Jaeger who was positioned not far from here. Isaac and Lightning had already sacrificed enough for this base. Now it was time for them to cut their losses and get the hell out of there. They were nearly ready to go, all they needed was for Lightning to show up and they would be out of here. But she was no where to be found. Which was troubling because the Gallians were getting close.

Suddenly, someone came flying out of one of the nearby windows to the warehouses, landing hard upon the ground. It was Lucina, and she was in pain from the landing as she slowly managed to get back upon her feet. The German soldiers next to Isaac trained their weapons on her and prepared to open fire, but were stopped by Isaac who held his hand up, ordering them not to shoot. He already had a good idea as to what was happening. And his suspicions were proven correct when Lightning jumped out another window, landing on her feet. She had her Ragnite powered sword and shield in hand and appeared to be locked into a fight with Lucina, having run into her somewhere in the base.

Without hesitation, Lightning lunged at Lucina, attacking her with a furious series of sword strikes which Lucina was able to block with her own sword. Isaac and the troops could do nothing but watch as the fight began, though Isaac did allow them to keep their weapons trained if he needed them to start shooting. The two women seemed evenly matched in terms of skills with swords, but it seemed that Lightning was slightly better than Lucina was. With every blow with her sword, it seemed that she was much closer to knocking Lucina off balance. And with the last two blows, with one aimed for her head which Lucina managed to block, and with a sweep across her legs, which knocked her back down upon the ground, Lightning managed to gain the advantage in this fight. With Lucina on the ground and unable to fight back, Lightning lifted her sword high and brought it down, looking like it was the end of the Archanean Royal Line.

However, just before it hit her, another sword blocked hers, stopping it from hitting Lucina. Lightning looked to see that the sword, a cutlass no less, was being wielded by Jack Lawrence, whom she had recognized from his last trip to New Berlin to see Lelouch. Jack had moved ahead of Welkin and the group to try and find Lelouch himself and convince him to give up while he still could, though that was about as likely to happen as the Nazi Empire about to collapse in the next few seconds. Once Lightning looked at him, Jack commented to her "Why don't you pick on someone else for a change?"

Then Jack used his swordsman skills against Lightning. He took his cutlass and began attacking her with quick yet powerful attacks which forced her back towards the main exit. Lucina was surprised to see that Jack was able to take on Lelouch's knight in a one on one fight. However, the difference between Lighting and Jack was that he didn't play by the rules. During the fight, Jack pushed her back far enough for him to pull out his pistol with his free hand, took aim at Lightning, and with two precise shots, he shot the sword and shield out of her hand, leaving her practically defenseless. Still pointing the gun at her, Jack warned her "Make a move and the next one goes right between your eyes!"

It was at this moment that the rest of the strike force appeared and began to take a stand against the Germans. The members of Squad 7, the IVB, as well as the remaining members of Squad 1 and the ALF rebels aimed their weapons directly at Lightning, Isaac, their remaining troops, as well as the remaining supplies that that they had loaded back inside of the trucks and half-tracks. Add the _Edelweiss_ and the _Shamrock Mk II_ taking aim as well, it appeared that they had the Germans cornered.

Welkin, who was standing through the opened turret hatch of the _Edelweiss_, looked dead on at them and confidently demanded "Drop your weapons and surrender now! You and the Black Prince aren't getting away from this place!"

"Prince Lelouch? You're thoroughly mistaken Lieutenant. He's not here. He never was," corrected Isaac, with a grin on his face as he knew that they had taken the ploy.

"What are you saying?" inquired Faldio, wanting to know.

"I'm saying that he was never hear. That message he had sent to your High Command was fake. You don't honestly think my boss would just tell the enemy where he was would you?" said Isaac, playing at them with the truth. Soon, Welkin began to put the pieces together as did most of the others. Lelouch was never here to begin with. He had sent that message as a ploy to just have everyone focused upon this base. This would have left Lelouch free to carry out whatever kind of plan that he cooked up in order to win the war. It all became clear to them: they had been set up from the start. And as the realization was shown upon their faces, Isaac took advantage of this distraction to have one of his men pull out a detonation box.

The German pressed down on the handle, detonating explosive charges that were hidden in some of the nearby warehouses. When they were set off, the strike force members immediately hit the deck to try and avoid any shrapnel or debris that would hit them. Using this to their advantage, Lightning and Isaac, along with their troops, ran to board their trucks and started their engines. Once everyone was on board and accounted for, they sped off, leaving the base for General Jaeger's position just a few miles away, leaving the strike force in their newly captured supply base.

Once the explosions were over, the group got back up to see that the Germans were completely gone, they had to face the realization that they had been played by the Black Prince every step of the way. Alicia was the first to speak up, commenting "We came all the way here...for nothing."

"It's Lelouch's specialty. Just when you think you have him, he always pulls the rug right out from under you. God! Why didn't I see this before?" cried out Jack, hitting his fist against the _Edelweiss_, blaming himself for not figuring this out before they even arrived to the base.

"There was no way you could have known Jack," said Welkin, who had climbed out of the tank and placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"Well I should have. I'm the one here that knows him the best," said Jack.

"Moink."

The two of them looked to see Isara holding the porcavian pig in her arms. It was the same one that they had found earlier at the clearing that lead them to the animal trail. They thought that they had let him go back at the clearing. But apparently, Isara managed to find a way to keep him without anyone else knowing. Surprised that she still had the thing, Largo looked to her and asked "You kept the pig?"

"I figured that he would make a nice mascot for the squad. And...cause I wanted to keep him," explained Isara, blushing a bit out of embarrassment when she mentioned the last part. Welkin gave off a small grin at that comment. One thing that he remembered from his youth was how much Isara always wanted a porcavian as a pet. It was one of the few things that she had always wanted when the two of them were growing up. And here she was, holding a porcavian piglet in her arms, with possibly no family left because of the war. Welkin was not willing to tell Isara that she couldn't keep him, because she was so stubborn that she would argue to no end on the issue. Welkin was sure that his little sister would have been able to take care of it. And there was nothing that said that Militia squads couldn't have a mascot. So in Welkin's mind, there didn't seem to be any problem with them keeping the pig.

"Well, what do you want to call him then Is?" asked Welkin sincerely.

Isara's head instantly shot up as she looked to her brother and asked "Are you serious? He can stay?"

"Why not? We're the Militia. Every Gallian has the right to join," pointed out Welkin.

"I don't think pigs count under that rule," noted Jack, though Isara didn't seem to pay attention to what he said.

"I'll call you...Hans," noted Isara as eh looked happily at the piglet in her arms. The pig responded with a 'Moink' which he said in a quite happy tone.

"Okay well if we're keeping the pig, than I got one thing to say: Melville, this is not lunch!" said Jack as he looked to Melville, the carnivore, who hid behind Jann the moment he saw the glare from Jack. He figured that Melville might try to turn the pig into a large side of bacon. When they got back to base, he would tell Marina that if he does, he'll give her permission to shoot him someplace non-vital.

* * *

**And the Battle of the Ardennes is finally done! With this out of the way, I can do the chapter that I've been looking forward to write since this whole thing started! I AM SO EXCITED! Trust me, you'll see just what Lelouch has planned. Up next is Operation: Wacht am Rhine. Or in English "Watch on the Rhine".**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	85. Operation: Wacht am Rhine

**Now here is the long awaited chapter that I have long been awaiting to publish. Hope you all like it. This is perhaps one of the biggest chapters of my story. Not in terms of word count but more like in how it affects the plot of my story. Plus I changed a few things due to the Schnee family being in this story. Other than that...Enjoy!**

* * *

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Meanwhile, on the Central Front_

_April 24, 1935_

_The Gallian Capital of Randgriz_

_Nearly noon_

In Randgriz, on this particularly day as the dark grey clouds blocked the sun, things had managed to return to a measure of normality after the large German bombing raid a few days ago. Aside from the thunder and the slight chance of lightning that was predicted, things seemed to be pretty good. The civilians who had spent a month hiding in the subway tunnels to avoid the bombings finally came out and began to try and rebuild their city and once again go about their lives wherever they could. So far, some of the shops and businesses had managed to reopen and people were residing in temporary shelters until their homes could be rebuilt. And there were also International Red Cross stations and soup kitchens established to try and help those affected by the bombing raids as well. The same Gallian military garrison as well as the local police stepped up to ensure that the peace was kept as the rebuilding process began. So far all the police had to contend with were a few thefts as well as searching through the rubble for any missing people from the bombings.

Meanwhile, in Castle Randgriz there was an important meeting going on inside the throne room. The entire Gallian High Command, members of the Gallian government, as well as certain members of Gallia's aristocracy were in attendance. They were there to help discuss the current situation of the war as well as further plans on how their military should proceed and see just what they could do to try and turn the tide of this war around into their favor. They were currently taking their seats while they awaited for the main guests of honor to arrive at this meeting. The people they were waiting for were the Regent, the former Kaiser Wilhelm II, Princess Cordelia gi Randgriz, Prime Minister Borg, as well as Wilhelm's adviser, Ardyn Izunia.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, Lelouch's plan had already been set into motion. His spy, C.C, still disguised as a member of the Royal Guard and carrying a Mags-M4 with her, walked over to the castle's entrance to the city catacombs. There she had instructed the thirty Panzer Grenadiers she helped her boss sneak into the catacombs to wait until it was time for them to act. And with the hour approaching, she walked into the isolated cellars in the castle's lower levels so that she would open the hidden trapdoor into the catacombs. The cellars were somewhat dusty and there were barrels of wine stacked against the walls for any parties and such but since the war, they've been mostly untouched, hence the dust. C.C made her way to the trap door, which was hidden under a floor mat which she so kindly removed. She grabbed the iron handle and opened the trapdoor, seeing the Panzer Grenadiers waiting below in the cramped tunnels. She gestured for them to come up, saying "All clear. Come back up above ground ground boys."

The German soldiers began climbing up through the trapdoor, carrying their weapons and equipment with them as one by one, all thirty of them entered the cellar as the first German soldiers to enter Randgriz in over a hundred years. Once they were all out of the dark and cramped tunnels, C.C began explaining the plan to them.

"Alright. Here's what we're going to do. Most of the Royal Guard is out patrolling the palace grounds. The few left in the castle are going to be inside the throne room providing security for the conference being held there. I'll be there, right beside the Princess. When the artillery barrage starts, you guys take the throne room and block anyone trying to get in. Wait here until the meeting starts in about ten minutes before you guys move up to the throne room. Understood?" instructed C.C, looking over them from the staircase. The Germans nodded in acknowledgement as C.C went up the stairs to meet up with the rest of the Royal Guard that would take up position inside the throne room.

* * *

_On the Other Side of Lake Graz_

As everything was moving into place, Lelouch near the outskirts of the forest, now camouflaged by the Germans so that the Gallians wouldn't be able to see the Germans setting everything up. Lelouch had a whole company of soldiers who would be some of the first soldiers into the city once the operation began. They were all lined up in two rows, standing at attention, and presenting their weapons. They were dressed in a mixture of forest camouflage and standard field-gray uniforms, and they were armed with Kar98k's, Gewehr-43's, MP-40's, Stg44's, and even a few MG42's and _Panzerfausts_. As Lelouch inspected them, Kallen, Suzaku, and Aada Schnee watched from the sidelines. As Lelouch approached a volunteer that was the same age as him, he stopped and looked at him. The young man stood there, still at attention, simply waited for what Lelouch was going to tell him.

"Soldier, what's your name?" asked Lelouch, sincerely.

"Hans Geering, your Highness," replied the soldier.

"Well let me ask you this Hans Geering: What's the motto of the German military?" inquired Lelouch.

"_Gott mit Uns_, your Highness," answered the young soldier. _Gott mit uns_, was German for the phrase "God is with us". It's been in use to the German military for almost two thousand years, and each soldier in the German military was ordered to take that to heart. Though the young soldier wasn't sure as to why Lelouch was asking this, he and the rest of his company were about to get their answer. Lelouch took a few steps away in front of the unit before turning around to face them all. from there, he began to deliver a charismatic and inspirational speech that he was known for giving.

"_Gott mit uns. _'God is with us'. Wherever God is, the _Wehrmacht_ is too. And wherever the _Wehrmacht_ is, Germania itself is too. Germania is here in Gallia. And it is represented by every soldier, sailor, and pilot from our Fatherland. Beyond this lake, is the Gallian capital of Randgriz. Beyond this lake, is the end of the war for all of us. And beyond this lake, is France. In France, the wine is spectacular and it's lands fertile for farmers. Is there not a single man or woman here who does not wish to see France?" said Lelouch, saving the question for the very end.

The soldiers all responded in unison with "No, sir!"

"Very good. Take your positions men, this war ends today," said Lelouch as the soldiers gave him a salute before marching off towards their units. Once They were gone, Lelouch and his colleagues did the same. They four of them would lead a three pronged assault on the city by crossing the Graz Bridges. Suzaku would lead the assault on the left flank by using the two bridges there. Captain Aada Schnee would take the right flank by using the bridges there. Meanwhile, Lelouch and Kallen would be leading the assault upon the city center with the rest of their forces. With this, the whole city would be theirs before the day is out.

* * *

_In the Throne Room of Castle Randgriz_

Once the guests of honor had arrived, everyone took their seats at the table, with the Regent seated at the head of said table. The table was actually several long ones that formed a square outline which covered much of the room. Due to the amount of people attending the conference, it was necessary for the tables to be configured this way. Each member of the conference was handed documents, statistics, reports, and more that was provided by them by Gallian Military Intelligence. These figures helped to illustrate their odds of success as well as where it was likely for ether side to win in hypothetical battles within certain areas on each of the three fronts. It would be up to them all of those in attendance to see just what their next course of action should be.

The throne room, where they would be holding the conference, was a very large room by itself. The white marble floor had been shined so much that if one would look close enough they could see their own reflection staring back at them. There was a long and wide blue silk rug that ran from the throne and went all the way to the main doors to the room. The walls were white as well, and there were artistic pillars that went all the way to the ceiling and each one had a blue royal banner with white etchings attached to it the pillars. The doors to the entrance hall were made of solid wood, covered with a dark varnish, and with gold trimmings and markings on it to create that regal and royal appearance. Next, the ornamental ceiling was made of gold and there were silver trimmings on it as well. In the center of the ceiling, there was a shining and beautiful chandelier covered with clear and bright diamonds it seemed. Something like this was desired for one of Europa's oldest royal families and perhaps one of the richest thanks to the countries large Ragnite reserves. In between each of the pillars were large glass windows that allowed light into the room. Looking out each side, one can see the city of Randgriz around them as well as four of the Graz Bridges and the coastline to the lake.

The main center piece for the room was the throne itself, elevated several steps above the ground to signify the leader looking over their people, as well as the elaborate wall behind it. There was normally either one or two of these thrones set there, depending on whether the ruling Archduke or Archduchess was ever married. The white throne was designed where that it was shaped to be somewhat similar to the lances wielded by the Valkyrur of old during the War of the Valkyrur. The large wall behind them was also the same as it had a elaborate and detailed etching Valkyrian lance pointing upwards towards the heavens above the Earth.

Currently sitting upon the throne was Princess Cordelia gi Rangdriz, the sixteen year old heir to the throne. She sat on her throne wearing her Victorian-era inspired light blue and white regal dress which covered her from her neck all the way down to her feet. The dress had a long dark blue cloak that ran all the way down her back and dragged a bit upon the ground. Her long white hair, a common trait of those of Valkyrian descant was long and flowing with a silver tiara placed upon her head. As Cordelia sat upon the throne, the expression on her face, especially her dark-blue eyes, showed that she seemed quite somber and depressed. She seemed to be like that ever since her parent's, the former Archduke Albert II and his wife, were killed in a freak auto accident when she was only just six years old. And despite the efforts of her uncle, Regent Wilhelm II, who managed to keep her spirits up as best as he could, there were times that this expression managed to appear. Even so, Wilhelm did do his best to raise Cordelia in her parent's absence. He played with her as she was a child, gave her a private tutor to help educate her, and helped teach her how to be a ruler that her people would admire her for.

Standing to Cordelia's left was her Prime Minister, Maurits von Borg, the current head of the House Borg, another of Gallia's noble houses. The sixty-eight year man became the Prime Minister of Gallia after Archduke Albert II passed away in 1925. Despite his age, Borg's wealth helped him to pay for methods that helped him to appear younger than his age would suggest. Like much of the nobility in Gallia, his noble attire helped to distinguish his position and wealth in the hierarchy of the Gallian aristocracy. He wore a large blue robe with yellow ribbons sewn into it and he wore it over some other white clothing. He also wore an elaborate silver chest plate with gold trimmings that was more ornamental than practical. His original hair was long gone, so to keep up with his appearances, he wore a wig with golden-blonde hair that was long enough to create a horizontal roll of hair that ran around the back of his head to the sides, covering the back of his head as well as his neck in the process. There were also two long vertical rolls of hair flowing down on either side of his head in the front. Finally, his facial hair involved that of a fancy and pointed mustache as well as a pointed beard.

Though Wilhelm II was the Regent and therefore his superior, Borg was the real power in Gallian politics. Using the death of Archduke Albert II, he and the rest of the nobility managed to gain control over Gallia, reinstating the nobility as the ruling class like in Medieval times, with Wilhelm all but unable to assert authority over the country so that Cordelia could do so when she was old enough. And for the past ten years, the nobility had weakened the country significantly enough that it seemed like very easy pickings for the Nazis and quite easy to conquer, which helped Prince Maximilian to persuade his brother Byzantium to authorize the invasion. Now the Germans were knocking on the doorstep of the capital and despite the efforts of Wilhelm to rally them to create a stable front line to create a defensive war or go through the process of asking for foreign intervention, the aristocracy and High Command ignored everything decision he sent their way. But despite this, Wilhelm wasn't going to see them run this place into the ground so easily.

Finally, the last important person in attendance was Ardyn Izunia who stood on Cordelia's left, the main adviser to both Wilhelm and Cordelia and was a good friend to Cordelia's late father. Ardyn is a middle-aged man with amber colored eyes and reddish-violent hair which seems to complement his strong facial features. He is dressed in a long black jacket with a white and gray trim, along with matching trousers. He also wears a red scarf around his neck as well as a hooded gray and white mantle upon his shoulders. His most distinctive feature was the black fedora that he always wears on his head. Ardyn was an old friend of Cordelia's father, becoming his main adviser just before the onset of the Great War. The man himself was shrouded in mystery and always presented himself in an aloof matter. To the Gallian court, he expressed his eccentric personality through his unique attire, and he is often seen as quite polite and flamboyant as well. And even faced with open hostility, he merely remains calm and civil, no matter what. His job was to serve as Wilhelm and Cordelia's adviser in matters concerning the nation of Gallia, and he was quite proficient at this job.

Royal Guards stood at the main door and the two side doors by the throne to provide security. There were also two more Royal Guards standing on either side of Cordelia, behind Ardyn and Borg, so that the heir to the throne would be safe as well. There were also two more Royal Guards with one stationed by each side of the room with the windows. Overall, there were about ten Randgriz Royal Guards there defending the conference with the rest of them all patrolling the castle grounds. Since they expected the Aslone Fortress to keep the Germans at bay, there was an unusual sense of quiet over the city since the bombing raids came to a sudden end. It would also help this conversation since there would be likely no interruptions to stop them. However, none of them were aware of what was about to go down or what the Germans had in store for them this day. And as C.C, who in her Royal Guard disguise, stood at Cordelia's side along with the other guard, she simply waited for the moment to act as the conference got underway.

"Now that we're all here, we should get to the matter at hand: Our next course of action in this war," announced Wilhelm as the members of this conference were finally seated.

"Yes, we know that. It's safe to say now that our chance to defeat the Black Prince has failed. He's proven that he can stop just about anything that we send his way," mentioned Eisler.

"If we had more troops we would have had him on the run," commented Baldren, not liking the fact that he and his sister were being reminded of their failure.

"You said that you had more than enough troops to deal with them when we gave you the strike force. Either you underestimated the Black Prince or he found it relatively easy to take you down," commented Commodore Harrington as he looked directly at Baldren and Audrey.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the halls of the castle, the Panzer Grenadiers had begun to move out. They were advancing through the hallways with their weapons drawn. They had split into three groups to cover the three entrances into the throne room, the commander of the Panzer Grenadiers, armed with his Luger pistol, lead about twenty of his men towards the main entrance while two squads of five men moved to each of the side entrances situated near the throne. As they approached the throne room, they would come across certain members of the castle staff, who would gasp or cower in horror to seeing the German troops. The Germans quickly silenced them by knocking them out by striking them with the butts of their rifles.

Soon, the three teams made it to the doors, seeing them unguarded as all the security for the conference was all inside with them. The troops all lined up by their assigned doors and prepared to breach when the artillery barrage began. Once it did, then they would barge in, block all exits out of the room and hold the Gallian government and High Command at gunpoint. Soon, it would only be a matter of time before this war all came to an end.

* * *

"Look, we need help. We can't keep this up on our own. Sooner or later the Germans are going to overrun us," noted Harrington, once again expressing that they should be trying to get foreign intervention in this war. They would need it if they were going to win. But once again, though some people saw things his way, there were also those who didn't.

"You can't be serious Commodore. If we begin to beg foreigners for help, it'll just show us as weak. We need to be strong. We need to show the world that Gallia is not an easy target," pointed out Gilbert Gassenarl.

"There is a difference between showing weakness and admitting when the situation is far beyond your control. We are barely holding on to what ground we have left. The Germans may have been set back at Vasel but it's only a matter of time before they overrun us. If we are to win, we should listen to Commodore Harrington and try to get help," clarified Varrot, supporting her good friend Harrington's suggestion. She and Harrington had known each other since the Great War and they became good friends. They often saw eye to eye when it came to Gallia's military position and their effectiveness against enemies like the Imperial Germanian Reich.

"Varrot listen to yourself! We don't need any foreign troops! We have the IVB and that's more than enough! We've beaten the Nazis by ourselves before! We beat them when we won our freedom back a hundred years ago, and we beat them off during the Great War! Nothing they throw at us can stop us! I'll push the Germans out!" shouted Damon, countermanding Varrot in his usual arrogant, ignorant, and self-centered way.

"You've already done a terrible job at that already Damon. I'm wondering if you can back up _anything_ that you say," countered Wilhelm. He held nothing but contempt for Damon, viewing his as the poorest excuse for a General. If he had his way, he would have had Damon dishonorably discharged from the military long ago and have had him replaced by someone who was much more competent as a leader than Damon could ever aspire to be. His most likely candidate for that would have been Belgen Gunther, had he still be alive. Surely he would have been able to make sure that the Germans wouldn't have been able to conquer half of Gallia within a month.

"Tough talk from a man who ordered Gallia invaded nearly twenty years ago," noted Damon, looking directly at Wilhelm as he used the former Kaiser's past against him.

"Let's all remain civil here now. No need for such hostilities," said Ardyn is his calming voice as he flipped his trademark trick coin through his fingers.

"I agree. There is little progress to be made by our squabbling. We must work together," added Borg, supporting Ardyn's statement. He looked over to Cordelia to see if she had anything to say in this conference.

Cordelia took a deep sigh before looking before the members of the conference, with every single one of them staring directly at her. She was pretty nervous about speaking out in front of them when she looked to her uncle Wilhelm with an expression on his face which said 'It'll be all right'. Her uncle always seemed to find a way to help cheer her up. With that look of confidence, she looked out to the people of the conference and said "We face perhaps our greatest crisis. We must stand together if we hope to prevent another German occupation."

As she said that, they could hear the bells of the St. Joan Cathedral ringing, signaling that it was now officially 12:00, noon. The bells of the cathedral always rang out when it was noon, and it's tone was heard all throughout the city. It went on for a minute before coming to an end. A few seconds later, they all heard a new sound. It sounded like some kind moaning sound that seemed to continue to repeat as whatever was causing it seemed to be occurring again after again every second. All the members of the delegation looked around with an expression of confusion as they tried to figure out just what it was that noise was and where it was coming from. No one had any idea what it was...except for Baldren and Audrey, who after listening to this noise for a few seconds, quickly remembered where they had heard it all before. And when they did, their eyes widened in shock. This was from the Nebelwerfer 42 rocket artillery guns that they encountered when they were leading their task force through the Ardennes in the first attempt to knock out the German supply base established there.

Suddenly the sounds or artillery strikes from the Nebelwerfer rockets as well as high explosive shells from other German artillery guns struck the city, further damaging the city and causing a panic as the civilian population began running for whatever cover they could find. And in the palace, the walls shook as the shock wave from the artillery strikes send vibrations throughout the castle. The members of the conference as well as Cordelia, Borgia, Ardyn, and Wilhelm knelt or hunched down with their hands over their ears to cover the loud and deafening booms coming from the artillery strikes. To them, the artillery barrage shouldn't have been possible. The only way this would have happened was if the Germans managed to capture Aslone and position it's forces across the lake, bringing the city directly into firing range. And since they were in communication with Aslone, this must probably mean that the Germans have developed some kind of artillery gun that could probably shoot farther than most.

As this happened, the main doors as well as the side ones flew open as the Panzer Grenadiers poured in, weapons drawn. A few of them fired a burst from their weapons into the ceiling to get their attention. The Royal Guards aimed their weapons at them, but they didn't fire as they realized that they were both outnumbered and caught unprepared on both sides. Seeing the futility of trying to fight against enemy forces outnumbering them all, the Royal Guards placed their weapons on the ground before standing back up and holding their hands where the Germans could see them so that they wouldn't get shot. As each side stood at a standoff, the officer in charge of the Panzer Grenadiers, aiming his Luger at the conference members who were staring at the Germans with a mixture of surprise, hatred, and confusion, stated "Make any sudden moves, and we're going to send each of you into your graves!"

* * *

Outside the castle walls, the city was once again thrown into chaos as the large barrage of German artillery shells continued to rain down upon the city. The shells struck upon the positions of small Gallian Regulars garrison within the city, quickly destroying those positions as well as any vehicles in the area. Those few Regulars that managed to avoid the bombardment sought cover along with the police and the civilians within the ruins of the city. The bombardment also damaged several other areas with the damage ranging from light to severe, depending on the severity of the barrage. This continued for several more minutes before it all finally stopped, with the last shell striking near the front gates of the city. When the shelling came to an end, the people of the city came out of hiding to survey the damage. It was then that "_Operation: Wacht am Rhine"_ began. A droning sound filled the air as the civilians looked to the cloudy skies, where the sound seemed to be coming from. At first, they didn't see anything except grey and dark grey storm clouds that blotted the sky and blocked the sun. But after a few seconds, descending from the clouds, they saw what it was: three War Zeppelins descending upon the city.

Each of them were about 800 feet in length and the diameter of these things was about 150 feet wide, making these things both big and intimidating. They were covered in armored plating, with the nose of the airship reinforced, turning it into a battering ram. In the rear of the airship, there were four fins pointing up, down, left, and right. Each one had a Nazi Swastika emblazoned on them. In between each of the fins, there was a large propeller engine that was used to propel the Zeppelin forward and help it turn. There were also six other engines located on the middle line from front to back on each side of the airship. Each of the engines were used separately in case on set was destroyed, the other set could continue to propel the ship.

In terms of armament, theses things lived up to their nickname as 'floating battleships'. There were also two long gondolas on the bottom of the Zeppelin, used to help load the crew onto the airship, put it also had about ten mounted 20mm anti-aircraft guns on each one as well as four Troika mountings as well. There was also a structure on the top of the Zeppelin, with the Nazi Flag painted around it with the structure placed directly in the middle. It looked like the structures on a naval warship, particularly that which was used on battleships. It was covered with AA cannons ranging from 40 millimeter cannons to 20 millimeter cannons, giving it enough protection. There were also gun platforms with one in front and one behind the structure. In the center of them was a 40 millimeter Bofors AA-cannon with Troika's on each corner. They were accessed by using a hatch that opened up to the platform from within the airship. There were also other main armaments to these things was that which they used in their broadsides. Like the broadsides of old pirate ships from movies, there were two rows of cannons, a whole line of Flak 88 AA cannons in each row on above and below of the engines on their sides that could be brought back and hidden behind retractable steel doors. In between each of these cannons there was a smaller retractable door which hid 20 millimeter cannons. Down below near the gondolas were the the most dangerous weapons they fielded for targets upon the ground. With three on each side of the ship's bottom, these six 100 millimeter cannons were used to demolish just about anything in their way, though they can also be replaced by bomb bay doors which would have the same effect.

_"War Zeppelins, the craziest and yet possibly one of the most powerful weapons of war to come out in the aftermath of the Great War. The Germans invented the Zeppelin in the late 1890's one of the earlier methods of air transportation before the Wright brothers invented the airplane. These things were monstrously huge, like a giant steel balloon. Other nations built their own Zeppelins and used them for the same purpose as well. The early versions used tanks of hydrogen to keep them afloat in the air, but the downside of it was that it was highly flammable and that if it caught fire it would bring the whole ship down in a fiery blaze. Nations used this method until the end of the Great War. Then some inventor, I forgot his name, invented some kind of Ragnite powered generator that created enough thrust to keep the damn thing airborne as long as it was functional. The Germans saw use for them other than commercially. They saw a use for them as weapons. The Germans planted guns on them, added armored plating, put a crew of hundreds, maybe a thousand on them, and turned the inside of the airships into floating battleships that dominated the air for much of the war. The other nations in the war, excluding Gallia who had no Zeppelins whatsoever, soon followed the Germans example. This resulted in the air wars becoming much more bloodier as the War Zeppelins, dubbed that by the media, engaged in battles up in the air as they shot at each other with their mounted cannons and machine guns. However, due to how expensive they were, they were limited in production and combat between these military machines were not as often as dogfights. After the war, they were further upgraded and made able to be modified for various missions throughout the years and were continued to be used as part of the air forces of many nations. They acquired a nation as a terror of the skies, and when a person saw them descending upon a city...it was a sign that all hell was about to break loose." - Jack Lawrence_

The moment that the civilians of Randgriz saw them descending upon them, they immediately panicked and ran for their lives in a frenzy. It looked like the Germans were resuming with bombarding Randgriz again and they were so quick to judge that it may have been over. Now they were out in the open, above ground and vulnerable to any attack from the German War Zeppelins. Lelouch had three of them flown in just for the purpose of psychological warfare. To give the Gallians something to fret about, before he unveils his next little surprise about one minute later.

And as civilians fled towards the Graz bridges to stay out of the War Zeppelins path, they were met with that surprise. The gates to the bridges had been utterly destroyed in past bombings so they were pretty much torn down to allow unrestricted access for the bridges. And this decision would now ultimately prove to be the cities undoing. As they were seeking cover from the German War Zeppelins, just waiting for them to attack, they heard the sound of mass marching and vehicles coming from the bridges. Looking behind them, they see the very thing that they have been dreading since the war started over a month ago: They saw mass German tanks, vehicles, trucks, and infantry moving across the wide and open bridges towards the city. The truth was now laid bare for all to see: the Nazi Empire had taken Aslone and the full might of it's military was advancing upon the now defenseless city of Randgriz. As they saw the mass of German forces advancing upon them, they once again fled for their lives, searching for cover in the ruins of the city to avoid the mass of advancing enemy troops.

The first enemy troops to enter the city were those that were under Suzaku and Aada's control. Their forces quickly entered the city and begun to seize control of it. Their forces that were coming from the bridges on the far left and right seized control of the wall and the gates leading out of the city. There they set up their vehicles and machine guns to block all the gates, forming walls of weapons that made it impossible for anyone to get past. The rest of their forces moved into key buildings within the city such as police stations, the University of Randgriz, government buildings, and more. Due to the lack of Gallian forces within the city thanks to the previous bombardment, and the police not equipped to take on German tanks or soldiers, they managed to seize the city without much resistance from the local population. As they seized the buildings, the Germans went about arresting any policemen, government figures, and surviving Gallian Regulars within the city, quickly asserting their control over the city while they did it. At Castle Randgriz, Lelouch and Kallen's forces swarmed over the castle grounds, killing any of the Royal Guards that resisted and capturing anyone that wise enough to surrender. Once the grounds were secured, they maintained control over them while the rest of their forces moved about to secure the city, now rapidly falling before the forces of Lelouch vi Britannia.

* * *

Inside the throne room, the delegation of the conference looked out the windows in horror as the German army continued to pour into the city, completely unhindered. They never thought they would live to see the day that Gallia's capital city would fall before the might of the Nazi Regime again. In fact, they never thought that it was even possible. But yet here they were, watching this happening right in front of their very eyes. The day they were long dreading since this war started was finally coming true.

"Not so confident now are you, Bluecoats?" mocked the commander of the Panzer Grenadiers as he smiles a sinister grin at the delegation.

Damon, who would have normally said something to insult them, was utterly speechless, which was a first for him entirely. Seeing him without any words to say, Borg stepped up, taking a few steps forward alongside Ardyn before saying "You do not belong here German. This is holy ground, the land where Valkyrur walked long ago. Your presence here defiles this nation, it's people, and the Randgriz line."

"My men do not care about holy ground. And neither do I," said a voice from behind the Panzer Grenadiers. The soldiers parted to reveal Lelouch vi Britannia, the Black Prince of Germania walking into the throne room with his wife, Kallen vi Britannia, the Red Lotus, right beside him. The moment they appeared before the delegation, most of them began to quake with fear in finally being face to face with the two of them. It seemed like the temperature of the room had dropped about twenty degrees when the two of them entered the room.

Kallen took a few steps forward, guarded by some of the Panzer Grenadiers, looked around and began to admire the throne room. She said "I actually kind of like this place. Not to flashy but then again, flashy wasn't something I liked. My husband on the other hand here is the king of dramatics."

"This place, belongs to the Valkyrur as well as the Randgriz family. It doesn't belong to scum like you," cried out Audrey, glaring directly at Kallen who wasn't even fazed by the insult.

"That's tough talk for someone who's just lost the whole city. We've won this fight fair and square. So I'll be the first to suggest that you all should surrender," commented Kallen. That declaration didn't really go very well with some of the people here. With one of the Generals loyal to Damon, along with Baldren pulling out their pistols and aiming them directly at Lelouch, threatening to shoot him at any given moment. Lelouch didn't even flinch at this, nor did the expression on his face change either. Instead he looked to his uncle, the former Kaiser Wilhelm and proceeded to talk to him next.

"Ah, Uncle Wilhelm. I see Gallia is treating you well then," said Lelouch.

"You can say that," replied Wilhelm, looking at his nephew, seeing the young and talented man before him. Last time he saw Lelouch, he was only a toddler. Now he was a General in the _Wehrmacht_ as well as their conquering hero.

"One thing I don't understand though. How did your forces even get into the castle in the first place?" inquired Ardyn, noting a question where the answer to it had eluded them.

They all got their answer when with a nod of his hat, Lelouch gave his agent C.C the cue to play her part. With a series of quick actions, she pulled out a hidden M1879 Reichsrevolver, that she had hid but stuffing it into he belt behind her. This gun was an old and outdated, with it being replaced by more modern pistols, it was still usable revolver that some German officers still used. It housed six ten millimeter rounds and although the design was dated, it was extremely robust. And using the weapon, C.C aimed it at Baldren, shooting him in the right arm, which caused him to drop the weapon and for him to clutch his bleeding arm With his father and sister coming to help. Acting Quickly, she fired two more shots with her revolver, one killing the corrupt Gallian General by shooting him in the back, and another shot going into the leg of the Royal Guard standing opposite of her, bringing her to the ground. And her final act was when she grabbed Princess Cordelia. C.C held the princess in front of her as a human shield, holding Cordelia's neck in a chock hold, and holding the muzzle of the revolver against her skull, threatening to pull the trigger and end the Randgriz line at any second.

"What are you doing?" cried out Cordelia, struggling to break free.

"What does it look like I'm doing, your H_ighness_," answered C.C, saying the last word with emphasis.

When this happened, the conference members were shocked to see one of the Royal Guards, a member of a group that was supposedly the most loyal soldiers to the Royal Family, had betrayed them, came as a shock. The very thought of that seemed just impossible to them. None of them knew that C.C was Lelouch's spy, and that was all part of the plan. If C.C was good at one thing, it was acting. And she played the part of the traitor flawlessly. And with a sinister grin on his face, Lelouch spoke up and said "Ah yes, the men and women of the proud and yet painfully underpaid Randgriz Royal Guard. They're all so predictable. I offered this one more money than she would have ever made working for you. And she folded just like that. I'm afraid that now this _is_ the part where you all surrender."

"What shall we do with them your Highness?" asked the commander of the Panzer Grenadiers.

"I believe the castle dungeons are big enough. Put them all there," answered Lelouch.

"What about those two?" asked the commander, pointing to Cordelia and Wilhelm.

"Put them in their rooms. We'll deal with them later," finished Lelouch. The soldiers did their job and dragged the members of the delegation away at gunpoint towards the castle dungeons while C.C took a few soldiers to take Cordelia and Wilhelm away to their rooms elsewhere in the castle. Once they were gone, Lelouch walked over to the windows and saw his forces finishing their efforts to secure the city. He saw German flags being raised on key buildings, signaling that effort. In a day, Lelouch and his colleagues had invaded Gallia, taken the government and Gallian High Command as his prisoners, and now: he was the master of Gallia.

"Check, Lieutenant Gunther. Let's see how you reply this," muttered Lelouch as he watched this happening while two of his men went to try and find a radio and inform Byzantium that the Randgriz had fallen.

* * *

**And now things have gotten even more interesting. Lelouch now controls the Gallian capital. How will Squad 7 respond? What will they do? And what will happen in the story next? All will will be revealed in due time.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	86. The New Order

_(Note: I do now own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_"At noon on April 24, 1935, on Easter no less, German forces under the command of my childhood friend, Lelouch vi Britannia marched into the Gallian capital of Randgriz. Within less than ten minutes or so, they controlled the entire city, encountering virtually no resistance among the small Gallian garrison. And with the Gallian government, Princess Cordelia, and Gallian High Command now his prisoners, he had effectively 'cut the head off the snake' as he would have put it. Now for me, Welkin, and the rest of Squad 7, while Lelouch was off conquering Randgriz, we were taking the German supply bases in the Ardennes where we thought that Lelouch was supposed to be at but he wasn't. We didn't even know that the city was even captured until we returned to Fort Drakon that same day. It was safe to say that judging from the looks on the faces of the soldiers there, we could instantly tell that they knew something that we didn't." - Jack Lawrence_

_Three hours after Lelouch seizes Randgriz_

_1500 hours (3:00 pm)_

A few hours after they managed to capture the German supply base, the strike force that had been sent out from Fort Drakon to destroy it had finally returned. They were successful in their task, and were returning with the spoils of their battle, having loaded whatever was left in the supply base and loading them onto trucks that the IVB members and the ALF rebels could drive back to base. The spoils of war that they were bringing with them in the form of ammo, guns, medical supplies, fuel, a few cannons, and such would make a big contribution to the war effort. Squad 7 managed to return with no casualties, but a few members of the squad would have to stay out of combat for a while so that they would be able to recover from their wounds, especially Coby, due to his age and his bad back. Same could be said for the IVB members who had several of their members wounded in the assault. They would survive but had to take some time to recuperate and heal their wounds. The same could not be said for the other two units in the strike force. Half of the ALF rebels who had participated in the assault had been killed, as well as a third of Faldio's Squad 1 had been killed as well. Yet despite their losses, they managed to kill or wound the majority of the German troops that were assigned to defend the supply base.

However, Isaac's words at the end still haunted their thoughts. They didn't find Lelouch at the supply base which meant that he had willingly made them come there. But what they couldn't figure out was why he would have done that. After the battle, Welkin had asked Jack that question and Jack tried to answer as best as he can, thinking of how Lelouch could have possibly benefited from this. The best that he could figure out was that this base would have helped to serve as a distraction. Lelouch is man who has a flair for dramatics. By telling the enemy precisely where to go find him, they would have taken it as a challenge to capture a high valued target. All of their attention would be focused on this one specific area and on their efforts to capture or kill him to win a major propaganda victory for Gallia. This would have left Lelouch free to plan something big on another area of the front, a spot where they were no longer focusing on, that would deliver the killing blow and end the war in one single battle.

Hoping to report these developments before Lelouch acted on this, they raced back to Fort Drakon with their bounty as fast as they could. As they approached the fortress gates, the Gallian troops manning it immediately opened them, hearing them arrive before they entered sight. In single file, the vehicles of the strike force, lead by the _Edelweiss_ and the _Shamrock Mk II_, moved into Fort Drakon and quickly parked their vehicles and disembarked from them. As Welkin and the main members of Squad 7 along with Lucina, Faldio, and Lara headed to the command center to report to Major Blackadder, they noticed that the mood among the garrison of Gallian and IVB members had changed since they left earlier today.

Where they were cheering them when they triumphantly returned after destroying the German blockade from last night, they seemed saddened and somber, seemingly having lost any sense of hope. Something must have happened during the time in between them leaving for the supply base and their return. But the problem here was what was this event that had made everyone here at the fort seem so depressed. Whatever it was, it had to be pretty significant, and they had a feeling that they were about to find out one way or another. Entering the command center, they found it empty except for Blackadder who was sitting at his desk, smoking a cigarette and drinking some coffee as well. All the while he had the same defeated look on his face as the rest of the garrison.

Approaching him, Welkin, at the head of the group, asked "Um, sir? Is something wrong here?"

Looking up to see Welkin and the others, Blackadder put down the cigarette and said "Ah, Lieutenant Gunther. I trust that the supply base has been destroyed?"

Faldio answered for Welkin, saying "Yeah. We took out the base and managed to bring back a lot of supplies. But here's the thing. The Black Prince-"

"Wasn't there?" said Major Blackadder, finishing Faldio's sentence as if he already knew the answer beforehand. His response surprised the group, not expecting the Major to know that at all. Given the fact that he did, it meant that he definitely knew something that they all didn't know at all.

"Uh, yeah," replied Alicia, still surprised that Blackadder knew that already. As she said that, Blackadder got up from his seat and walked over to the large radio where he planned on explaining himself to the group.

"It's a long story. First off: around noon, we lost contact with Randgriz and Gallian High Command. We sent several transmission in order to attempt to establish contact but they never responded back," said Blackadder, explaining how he knew this. That news alone would be concerning to anyone considering that Randgriz was so close to the front lines. It wouldn't be hard to imagine that the Germans would have been able to take the city in one large, coordinated, and concentrated push. But still, there were probably other explanations as to why they had lost contact with Gallian High Command other than that.

"Maybe they're having problems with their radios?" inquired Faldio, pointing out one likely scenario as to why they had lost contact.

"That's what we assumed as well. We were content to wait an hour or so and try to contact them again. However, two hours later, a Militia courier arrived here on motorcycle and alerted us that nothing was all right. He was heading towards Randgriz when he heard the sounds of artillery fire coming from it. He said that he looked through his binoculars from atop a hill. By the time he managed to get a good look at the city, he saw that...that...," explained Blackadder, but stopped as he was about to explain what the courier had told them. It seemed that whatever he was told seemed to be the cause of everyone's mood having changed all of a sudden.

"What happened sir?" asked Lara, curious like everyone else as they wanted to know the truth here.

Taking a moment to gather his words, Blackadder finished by admitting "He saw German flags flying over the city walls, as well as the Black Prince's standard among them. Lelouch was never in the Ardennes. And now he and his entire army have taken control of the capital."

The news hit the group like a ton of bricks. To know that they had already been tricked by Lelouch into thinking that he was at the supply base they just raided, but now they know the full reason why. They had been played from the start. Lelouch laid out a trap, and they sprung it like fools. Now they had to cope with the fact that Lelouch had played them well enough to capture the capital of Gallia by itself. It was supposed to be impossible with the Aslone fortress guarding the city...but then they remembered that massive explosion they had heard the night of that air raid over Randgriz. No one seemed to pay any attention to it when they kept hearing the all clear signal coming from the fortress. High Command assumed that things must have been alright. Now...things were far from alright. To many people, now would be a very good time to panic. In fact, it explained why the IVB and Gallians stationed here at the fort seemed so depressed. To them, with Gallia'c capital having fallen, it seemed like the war was over, and that they had lost. As the realization sank in, Jack seemed to be affected most. He was the one who knew Lelouch better than anyone in this room. He should have seen this coming entirely. But then again, he did say that Lelouch was anything but predictable. He probably wouldn't have seen it coming even if he tried to the best of his ability. But it didn't stop him from feeling some sense of guilt over this.

As this was happening, a British soldier came into the room and reported "Major Blackadder, we've picked up a transmission. It's being broadcast from Randgriz on an open channel."

"I have a feeling that I know who's broadcasting it," commented Blackadder in a grave tone as he gestured for the soldier to operate the radio and turn it to the channel playing the broadcast.

As the soldier began turning the dials, everyone seemed to be waiting anxiously for what they were about to hear. The group had mixed feelings about what was undoubtedly Lelouch going to be giving some kind of speech commemorating his victory today over the Gallians. Welkin, Alicia, Rosie, Largo, and Isara were wondering just what he was going to say, though no doubt they had a pretty good idea. Faldio seemed to be on edge as he didn't like the idea of Germans occupying his hometown as well as his nation's capital for that matter. Jack and Lara were simply waiting for the inevitable victory speech, and Lucina seemed to have a defeated look on her face as it seemed that another country had fallen to the Germans. All was about to be revealed as the soldier found the station and Lelouch's booming voice flooded from the speaker.

_**Play Code Geass OST: The Master**_

_**"Attention all of Gallia! Hear my proclamation! I am Lelouch vi Britannia, Prince of the Imperial Germanian Reich, Commander-in-Chief of the Black Knights, and now your only ruler!"**_

Immediately upon hearing the opening lines, he had managed to grab the attention of anyone listening in to this. Lelouch was always known for his charisma that caused people to rally behind him. It's what made him an effective leader. Good enough for him to rally his men and turn the tide if any battle in his favor. As they listened to more of Lelouch's speech, what they heard next just made them seem all the more worried about their present situation.

_**"Princess Cordelia, along with her entire government and High Command have surrendered to me. As a result of this, I am now in control of Randgriz indefinitely. And not even the Gallian military can oppose me now. If anyone dares to resist me or my authority, they shall face my wrath and know what it means to cross me. Those in Gallia that were capable of challenging me no longer have the ability to do so. Yes, form this day, from this moment forward, GALLIA BELONGS TO ME!"**_

"Where in the city is Lelouch broadcasting this? How many people are listening?" asked Welkin, looking at the British soldier for an answer.

"Apparently it's coming straight from the castle itself. All of Europa is hearing this," answered the soldier, hint of fear and dread in his voice. Castle Randgriz had it's own radio which was connected to major stations all across the continent. Right now, all of Europa was listening to Lelouch proclaiming his recent victory, and perhaps the most crucial of all, for all to hear.

_**"To all Gallian soldiers hearing this broadcast, I order to surrender immediately. Your chances of victory are gone, for your leaders have forsaken you. Lelouch vi Britannia command you: Obey me subjects! Obey me Europa! For soon, all shall be mine!"**_

After Lelouch finished his short but direct speech, the group could hear the voices of soldiers in the background as they chanted his name.

_**"All Hail Lelouch! All Hail Lelouch! All Hail Lelouch! All Hail Lelouch!"**_

_**OST Ends**_

And with that, the announcement came to an end as all that was played after it was German patriotic music. It was now official. Lelouch had won, Randgriz was his, and the war was all but lost. And with Gallia seemingly fallen under German control, Byzantium's grand plan of conquest against the Federation seemed all the more likely to succeed. No doubt that this proclamation would cause many within the nations in the Federation to be downright concerned and believing that the possibility of invasion was highly likely. And with all of Gallia's political and military leaders now confined into German controlled prisons, it left the military with virtually no sense of leadership. Without any guidance, they would become easy targets for the Germans to pick them off one by one. The next few weeks would be like a bloodbath as the remnants of Gallia's military is destroyed by the forces of Lelouch and the Imperial Germanian Reich.

"Soldier, ready the men. Have them ready to move out to France as soon as possible," ordered Blackadder, looking to the British soldier. The soldier gave a salute in acknowledgement and rushed out to carry out his Major's orders.

"Wait. You're leaving?" questioned Welkin.

"I don't have much of a choice. With your leaders gone, your military will be massacred like lambs to the slaughter. I will not have the entire IVB share their fate," commented Blackadder, explaining how he wasn't looking forward to mounting a suicidal defense against the full might of the German military.

"So you're just going to turn tail and run while Lelouch runs Gallia how he wants?" questioned Faldio, seeming a little hostile as he see's that they're merely running away from a fight that was still being waged.

"This isn't my country Lieutenant. My men were sent here only to help, not to fight your war for you. Now, with Randgriz overrun, our use here has come to an end. Now I have to get my men out of this country and back to their homes immediately," said Blackadder, stressing their current situation.

"But you can't just leave. Not when there's still a fight to be had," said Faldio, trying to convince Major Blackadder that leaving Gallian with the over ten thousand members of the IVB was a mistake.

"What fight? The war is lost! They won and we lost. I will not have my men die for a lost cause just so you can beat the guy that managed to outsmart you all! I won't have it.," criticized Blackadder, shoving off Faldio's misplaced patriotism and left the room with Lara and Lucina before Faldio could say another word.

Welkin placed a hand on Faldio's shoulder and tried to calm him down by saying "Faldio, this isn't their fight. It never was. Their homes aren't at war with Germania, we were. But now...now it looks like we may have to stop fighting."

"As much as I hate to admit it, I agree with Welkin. Faldio, we can't take on the whole German Army by ourselves. We won't stand a chance," added Jack, supporting Welkin's words with his own.

"And I can't believe I'm saying this at all...but it looks like I agree as well," added Alicia.

Faldio just couldn't believe they were even saying this. This was all coming from the Militia Squad that had managed to defeat the Germans at every step of the road and overcame the odds to deliver several victories for Gallia in this war. And now here they were, saying that it was best that they just finally give up and submit to the Germans again like they did when they first invaded over three hundred years ago. It was almost as if they seemed oblivious to what was going to happen to their homes when the Germans fully controlled the country.

"How can you say that? Welkin, do you honestly think that by giving up, everything is just going to go back to the way it was before the war? That nothing's going to change?" said Faldio as he began to criticize Welkin's line of thought on this.

Welkin, a little surprised by his friends's sudden hostility, tried to explain by saying "Come on Faldio, you know that's not-"

However, he was interrupted as Faldio began to show the ignorance in Welkin's idea of surrender by saying "The Germans are going to have their soldiers in every town, and have them shoot anyone who tries to speak out against them. Everything that you knew before the war, it's gonna be all gone by the time that they're done making the place theirs again."

"We'll still have our homes that we can go back to," noted Welkin.

"Home? There won't be a home! There won't be anything!" cried out Faldio before leaving the room in frustration. He wasn't looking forward to continuing this conversation any longer. And for now, Welkin and the others had to figure out how to break the news of Randgriz's capitulation to them as gently as they could possibly do. The next few days would be very interesting indeed.

* * *

_Meanwhile, In Randgriz_

Even a few hours into Lelouch's occupation of the city, it had already changed so much visibly. The Germans have blockaded any exit out of the city, placing Panzer IV's and mounted MG42 machine gun nests by each exit in order to ward off anyone from trying to escape from the city. Meanwhile, on orders from Lelouch, the Germans were taking down any Gallian flags or banners down and replacing them with that of Germania's for stores, public parks, and transportation hubs. However, when it came to the remaining government buildings and the completely intact Castle Randgriz, they were replacing it with Lelouch's coat of arms as well as Lelouch's black, white, and red tri-color flag. The Germans also cordoned off certain areas of the city such as police stations and military buildings within the city as they were now under German military control. Lelouch's forces were quick to make their presence known and show that they were in charge now, not Cordelia, not her regent Wilhelm, nor her government.

And it seemed like things were about to become even more interesting. Coming across the middle Graz Bridge was an armed convoy carrying Byzantium, Hrist, Maximilian, and his Triumvirate. They were in a series of three black German enclosed staff cars with military vehicles on both ends guarding them. In front of them was a German motorcycle and sidecar with an MG42 mounted on the sidecar. Behind it was an Sdk. 233 series armored car as well as a half-track loaded with soldiers of the Teutonic Knights, the Royal Family's personal guards. Behind the staff cars was the same thing but in reverse, with it being the half-track, the armored car, and the motorcycle.

The convoy entered the city and made it's way towards Castle Randgriz. They entered the underground garage where the castle staff stored the cars for the Randgriz family. The entrance was opened for them by soldiers of the _Wehrmacht_ who gave a Nazi salute as the staff cars passed by them, as a sign of respect for their Kaiser and Kaiserina who were in there. Once the convoy entered the garage, the doors were closed and the soldiers continued to stand guard just in case. And as the vehicles stopped, the soldiers turned off the vehicles and stepped out, and prepared to escort their charges to the throne room. The Teutonic Knights exited their half-tracks and formed up in formation to greet their Lord and master, Byzantium, once he exited from the staff car.

The Teutonic Knights were originally a military order of knights created by Germania over eight hundred years ago in 1190 A.D., with their symbol being that of a white shield with a black cross emblazoned upon it. They became the military arm of the Nazi Royal Family, being used as their own private military and security force. They are a select group of individuals, with not just anyone being able to become a Teutonic Knight. They underwent the most grueling of training, both in terms of physical training and mental training. This made them _the_ most elite soldiers within the nation, easily putting the _Waffen SS_ to shame in terms of fanaticism and devotion. For there was one crucial thing that separated the Teutonic Knights from the _Waffen SS_: the _SS_ were fanatical to the Nazi cause, while the Teutonic Knights were fanatical and devoted to the Royal Family. This meant that they answered to them and them alone, and would gladly sacrifice their lives if it meant furthering the cause of the family that they believed to be near god like. Each member of the unit was given a silver cross necklace that they would wear at all times to signify their status. As a mark of their dedication, each new recruit who became a member of their group willingly had a swastika branded upon the palms of their hands. Once it was healed, they were ready to fight and die for their cause. The exact number of Teutonic Knights that existed in the Imperial Germanian Reich isn't known but most likely it reaches into the thousands.

They wore different uniforms compared to those worn by the other branches of the German military. A big difference between the Teutonic Knights and the German Armed Services was the fact that they wore combat armor that was reminiscent to that worn by knights of old from Medieval times. The armor, and the amount that they wore varied depending on what class of infantry they were. Another thing that was unique to the Teutonic Knights was that they adopted the Gallian's system of infantry classes, assigning their recruits into a certain class based on what skills they focused on the most, even though they were good enough to be proficient in all classes.

The soldiers that were accompanying Byzantium and Hrist, belonged to each of the five classes of infantry that were the equivalent of those used in Gallia. Through each of these five classes, each one wore the same uniform and amount of armor. The standard uniform of the Teutonic Knights was the standard field-gray uniform which they wore underneath their armor. And they also were equipped with the same kind of gear as the German military in terms of ammo pouches, bayonets, binoculars, and wore a backpack filled with additional supplies and gear as well. For the armor, they wore a chest piece that covered their torso, the standard German _Stahlhelm_ helmet with a metal face plate that covered their face up to the eyes. They also had armored plated covering their upper and lower arms as well as their knees. The commanders of the Teutonic Knights wore the same uniform but both the uniform and the armor was colored black with gold trimmings and they had the white shield and black cross their on their chest armor. And Each knight carried a one handed broadsword with a thin blade tucked inside of it's scabbard. Unlike those of the past, this was more wield able and just as deadly.

Once Byzantium and Hrist exited from their staff car, the Teutonic Knights took a knee and knelt before them, bowing their heads out of the endless devotion and respect that they had for their leaders. When Byzantium gave them the signal to rise, they did so and stood immediately at attention with their weapons presented. And once Maximilian and the rest of the Triumvirate exited from their vehicles, the Knights escorted them towards the throne room where Lelouch, Kallen, and their aides were located in. As they passed by the various German guards located in the halls of the palace, the guards stood at attention and gave the Nazi salute to Byzantium and Hrist as they passed on by.

"Seeing them like that never gets old," said Hrist, enjoying the attention.

"With Gallia now ours, we'll move on to the Federation once we consolidate power here. Soon I'll be taking you to cafes in Paris my dear," noted Byzantium.

"I'll hold you to that my dear. I hope to see Paris before the New Year," said Hrist.

And as they entered the throne room, they were in awe at the sight. For over a hundred years, Gallia had resisted them and pushed back their forces. Maximilian's invasion a month ago had gained them much ground but didn't deliver the swift killing blow that Byzantium had been demanding. He wanted a quick war with the Gallians, not a prolonged and bloody conflict with them that would waste vital time and resources. But thanks to Lelouch, he managed to deliver such a knockout blow. He managed to capture the capital of Gallia within just a few hours, therefore reinstating German rule upon the country. And sitting upon the throne, was none other than Lelouch himself, still in his military uniform. They had brought out the second throne and placed it beside him. And in the throne next to Lelouch was none other than Kallen. On both sides of them stood the members of the Black Knights: Colonel Alexander Isaac and Lightning, recently returned from the Ardennes, as well as Suzaku and C.C, still in her Royal Guard uniform, and Aada Schnee, who was asked to join this meeting. There was also an honor guard of twenty German soldiers in the room as well.

"All hail the conquering heroes. You never fail to amaze me brother," applauded Byzantium as he walked over to the throne with Hrist.

"You did say that you wanted the city, so we delivered. But not without help," said Kallen, restating what Byzantium had told them when they set out on this.

"Yes I am well aware of this. Captain Schnee isn't it? I hear your role in this was quite significant," commented Byzantium, looking to Aada when he brought up her name.

"I only did my duty, your Majesty," replied Aada, the dutiful officer.

"Still though. Your efforts deserve some kind of reward. And I believe that I have a good idea as to what it is. Perhaps Lelouch can find yourself a position in his Black Knights for you," suggested Byzantium. One thing that Byzantium believed is that deeds on the battlefield must be rewarded. And for this young and proud officer, the daughter of Jacques Schnee, one of Byzantium's closest allies, he could think of no better reward than to join the infamous Black Knights. Aada was momentarily stunned by the offer, but quickly got her composure back in time for Lelouch to say his next words.

"I agree with you there," said Lelouch.

"If I may interject. Even though Lelouch seized the capital, it was me and my officers who did most of the work up till his arrival," noted Maximilian, gesturing to himself and his Triumvirate. Maximilian didn't like the idea of Lelouch having been the one to seize the capital instead of him, and he certainly didn't like the fact that Lelouch was now seizing all the glory that Maximilian saw as rightfully his. And he did have a point. Up until Lelouch's arrival at Byzantium's insistence, it was him and his Generals that had been the ones to conquer most of Gallia within a month. And now here was Lelouch, the new hero of the war, having only conquered a ruined fortress and a major city. To Maximilian, it just didn't seem fair.

Hrist however, looked to him and noted "And yet he fulfilled the promise that you failed to keep. He succeeded where you had failed. That alone, shows how different the two of you are."

"That reminds me, What did you do with Cordelia and our Uncle Wilhelm?" inquired Byzantium, the thought appearing in his head all of a sudden.

"They're locked in their rooms under guard. The rest of those we captured we placed in the dungeons," answered Lelouch.

Kallen, wondering why he was asking, questioned him with "Why do you ask?"

"Because with Gallia is under our domain again, it'll need a leader. Not a Viceroy, but an Archduke to govern and lead this province. I can think of no one better to govern Gallia...than the two of you," announced Byzantium, his words coming as a shock to all but himself and Hrist. They were essentially giving Lelouch the keys to the entire kingdom, so to speak. With Gallia;s position within Europa, it's resources, and more, he would become one of the most powerful members of the Royal Family, and all of Germania as well. With such an announcement, it would likely garner much attention and publicity. There would likely be an elaborate ceremony and party to commemorate this, but as for now, it seems that Byzantium trusted the two of them enough to inform them of his choice beforehand.

"Soldiers, salute your new Archduke and Archduchess: Lelouch and Kallen vi Britannia!" ordered Hrist, looking to the Teutonic Knights and German soldiers who immediately gave Lelouch and Kallen the Nazi salute and shouted at the top of their lungs.

_**"Sieg Heil Lelouch! Sieg Heil Kallen! **__**Sieg Heil Lelouch! Sieg Heil Kallen!"**_

* * *

**And now things get more and more interesting. Everyone has mixed feelings about Randgriz's capitulation and now Lelouch and Kallen are the new Nazi appointed heads of Gallia. What will happen next?**

**As for the Teutonic Knights. Their classes of infantry are labeled below. They're essentially the same classes of infantry as in the game but they're given different names. Also, their uniforms and armor are that of the Imperial Shocktroops from the game, just with minor differences like the helmet being the one the German Army uses and such.**

**Scout - _"Soldat"_, or Soldier. They are the basic infantry of the Teutonic Knights,**

**Shocktrooper - "_Sturmtruppen"_, translated to Assault Infantry. They take the fight to the enemy.**

**Lancer - "_Panzerjäger"_, translated as Tank Hunters, they carry AT lances to knock out enemy tanks.**

**Engineer - Pioneer, another common name for military engineers in Europe. They build defenses and bring them down.**

**Sniper - "_Jäger_". translated as Hunter. These troops are generally the sharpshooters of the Teutonic Knights.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	87. Susie and Noce II

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Fort Drakon Medical Ward_

In the medical ward of Fort Drakon, all was quiet as the doctors and nurses treated the wounded soldiers, that silence was shattered when they hears voices coming down the hall. These voices belonged to Squad 7 members Noce Wordsworth and Susie Evans, who was being dragged to the medical ward by Noce as he was pulling her by the arm. Noce, as well as the rest of Squad 7, had been noticing Susie's hesitation to actually fire her weapon at the German troops. And they were all getting concerned that her pacifism would end up getting her and other members in the squad killed. They had to shake Susie out her shell and get her to open her eyes and see the reality of her situation, whether she wanted to or not. And they had entrusted Noce the honor of doing so. And if there was one way they were going to get through to Susie, than it was going to be through her old friend Noce Wordsworth. So he dragged her all the war to the medical ward to show her just what this war really is like.

"Noce! Will you let me go?!" cried out Susie as she struggled to break free from Noce's grip.

"Not till you actually stop and look at what I'm about to show you," answered Noce, continuing to drag her until they actually entered the medical ward. Once they were inside, he let go of Susie and she began massaging her wrist once it was free. Once she realized where she was, she tried to look away, but Noce made sure she looked at the wounded men and women here. Seeing all of this merely made Susie all the more scared and making her want to leave as soon as possible. This was just about the last thing that Susie had wanted to see today.

"C-can we leave now? I-I don't want to see this," said Susie, her voice trembling.

However, Noce wasn't going to back down that easily, with him asking her "Why? So you can just ignore the reality of everything that's going on around you? So you can continue to pretend that no one else is getting hurt because of all this?"

"Noce! What's with you all of a sudden?" asked Susie, surprised by his sudden hostility.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because of the fact that in every single battle you've barely ever fired a gun? The last time it nearly costed one of the squad member's life," answered Noce, pointing out the reasons for his tone of voice.

"I can't hurt anyone! How do you think I felt when I...when I actually killed that guy?" asked Susie, hesitating a bit when she brought up the German soldier that she killed back at the supply base.

"Probably not as bad as these guys are feeling," answered Noce, pointing to all the wounded IVB soldiers lying in their beds, some looking like they're in pain. Their wounds seemed to range from gunshot wounds to slashes from bayonets and swords, to even shrapnel wounds and burns from Ragnite flamethrowers that the Germans used. Given the fact that the German died quickly back at the Ardennes, it seemed like mercy compared to what these poor souls were going through.

"Noce...I didn't join the Militia to hurt others. I joined it to help protect people," said Susie.

"You can't protect people Susie by just hiding behind cover and hoping that the rest of the Squad takes out the rest of the Germans. The only way we're going to defend our homes is if we pick up a gun and fight back. It's the only way to protect these people. Either we kill the Germans, or they kill us and anything standing in their way," explained Noce, trying to get Susie to see reason for once in her life. The Germans weren't going to go easy on them, they were fighting to win. So the Militia had to do everything they could do to fight back and stop their advance any further into the country. This is the reality of the situation that they were facing. Those who didn't learn and accept it, and accept it fast, normally don't last very long. Noce was hoping that he would be able to get Susie to see this and accept it like the rest of the Squad did.

He couldn't tell from the look on her face if she did, but what he did notice was that her face seemed to grow more somber and she looked away from Noce over to the wounded American soldier lying next to her. He was asleep and he had some pretty nasty shrapnel wounds that he received a few days ago from a German stick grenade. The nurses managed to heal most of them with Ragnaid, but he still needed a few days worth of rest in order for his wounds to fully recover. She took a seat on a stool near him and held his hand, seemingly like she was going to look out for him until he either woke up or his wounds were fully healed. It seemed that Susie had the traits of Florence Nightingale, the famous nurse of the Crimean War apparently. Seeing no need to continue this conversation, Noce was about to leave when a Russian soldier walked up to both of them.

"Privates Noce Wordsworth and Susie Evans?" asked the soldier, checking to see of he had the right people. The two of them nodded indicating that they he was correct.

Once they did so, he told them "Lieutenant Gunther asked me to get you. He has something important he wants to tell his men."

Noce and Susie soon followed the Russian soldier out of the medical ward, not knowing the bad news that Welkin was about to tell all of Squad 7.

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	88. Father Hendricks, O'Hara, and Caird II

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Squad 7's Barracks_

As Squad 7 was preparing to rest for the rest of the day, Catherine was sitting in her bunk, feeling a little uneasy over what had happened back at the supply depot earlier today. She ran out of bullets and because of that, Coby nearly got killed, only to be saved in the nick of time by Noce who was able to kill the German before he could kill Coby. She just couldn't seem to bear the thought that she would have to go through something like this again in her life. She already went through this once, and it was twenty years ago during the Great War. And back then...she had to see a really good friend of hers get killed when she could have prevented it. She was hoping that she would never have to experience it again, but it looks like despite all that she did to make sure, it happened nonetheless.

"Are you okay Catherine?" asked Father Hendrick sincerely, noting how upset and agitated she seemed to be. Catherine didn't notice he was standing beside her until he looked to her side when she heard his voice. He was standing next to her with a Bible in his hand. No doubt he was going to try and talk to her about whatever problems she was having.

"I-I'm fine Hendricks. Just fine," replied Catherine unconvincingly as she turned her gaze away from Hendricks and looked away from him. Add in the fact that her tone of voice made even her seem unsure as to her words, she was doing a very poor job at trying to convince Squad 7's chaplain that everything was okay.

Sitting down next to her, Hendricks spoke up, saying "You're telling this to a guy who's heard more confessions than most judges. And I'm pretty good at telling when people are lying to hide something. I'm just trying to help you here."

"How? By prying into my past?" asked Catherine, not interested in admitting what she was hiding. She didn't want to just spill her guts out to someone, or anyone for that matter.

"I don't pry. I listen. And confessions with a priest are confidential. I'm ethically and morally bound to not reveal any details without your approval," explained Hendricks.

"I...I don't know. This isn't exactly something that I'm all that comfortable telling a priest," admitted Catherine, showing her reluctance about this subject.

"Who else are you going to tell? Cezary?" pointed out Hendricks. Catherine had to admit that Hendricks had a point there. There wasn't exactly many people in the squad that she could talk to about this. And guys like Cezary would just laugh at this most likely. Maybe she should talk to him. She had been keeping this bottled up for the past twenty years. Perhaps it was time to finally let it all out and just talk to someone about it. It definitely sounded better than to just keep bottling it all in. So, after taking a deep breath, she looked to Father Hendricks and began explaining her past to him.

"Back in the Great War, I joined up with Donald McElroy. He and I were friends since we were kids. We were as thick as thieves back then. When the war started, we forged our birth certificates and enlisted in the Militia. By 1915, we were stationed near Naggiar when our unit got orders to launch an assault on a German controlled fort," stated Catherine, starting to tell her tale.

"I take it that it didn't go well?" inquired Hendricks.

Catherine scoffed before replying "They knew we were coming. The moment we stormed out of the trenches they opened fire on us with mortars and machine guns. Half of us were cut to pieces before we even made it to the halfway mark. I was in charge of sniping machine gun crews while Donald kept up with the advancing infantry. Eventually they called off the retreat and our guys began running back...with the Germans chasing them and firing back with their rifles."

"What happened?" asked Hendricks, sensing that this story doesn't have a happy ending. And it was evident as tears were beginning to form in her eyes as they got to this part of the story.

"As they were retreating, the Germans were cutting them down with pot shots from their rifles. I was shooting at the Germans to try and keep Donald alive but...but...but I ran out of bullet to fire. And the moment I did...D-Donald...he got shot. The Germans shot him in the back...and he just died there...and I couldn't stop it," stuttered out Catherine, beginning to cry at the memory of this. She eventually laid her head on Father Hendrick's shoulder and began to sob uncontrollably as Hendricks did his best to comfort her. Stuff like this is something that Father Hendricks had seen before. Many war veterans came to the St. Joan Cathedral in Randgriz to confess the sins they committed in the war as well as the terrible memories. And a priest was less likely to criticize their actions during the war than most people would. All that he can do is help them move on from the horrors they saw in the past and hope that they could move on into the future. Catherine would have a long road ahead of her, but eventually, she'll also get through this.

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	89. Squad 7 Rallies and the Gallian Reich

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Squad 7 Barracks _

_Later that night 1925 hours (7:25 pm)_

About an hour ago, Welkin had informed the rest of Squad 7 of Lelouch's capture of Randgriz as well as his proclamation. He had ordered all Gallian forces to stand down and surrender immediately or else they would all be destroyed, one by one. This news was the most disheartening they have ever heard. Almost immediately, their morale had plummeted at the thought that all of their accomplishments up till now had meant absolutely nothing as the Germans seem to have already won the war. Despite all their efforts, despite all that the Gallians did to hold the German military back, it was all for nothing as they now controlled the capital and left the Regulars and the Militia without any real sense of leadership. And even if they tried to resist them, without any coordinated effort or someone to guide them, that resistance wouldn't last even a few months. All that it seemed like they could do was just bide their time and wait for the Germans to arrive before they would surrender to them, as there seemed to be little options available to them. For now, it seemed like the whole Squad was wallowing in their pity at this point.

"Well this is just great. Been in the Militia less than a few weeks and now the war is over. This is just rotten luck," muttered Claudia as she laid in her bunk, feeling defeated.

"No kidding. At this point I'm thinking of packing up and moving to France. At least there I won't be in the concentration camps," commented Lynn, knowing what'll happen to her once the Germans take her prisoner.

"Hope you don't mind company. I'll go with you," noted her fiance Karl.

Rosie, leaning against the wall, merely looked down and muttered "This is by far not how I expected my life to go. I didn't exactly want to live under a swastika."

Largo, seated next to her and smoking a cigarette, added "Join the club. I fought for four years against those bastards. Now we're suddenly giving up. And this wasn't exactly how I wanted to end my military career."

"I doubt that they're just going to let us all go. I mean we did kill a whole lot of their soldiers," pointed out Alex, as the Germans didn't take something like that lightly. He didn't exactly know what the Germans did to the soldiers of nations that they conquered, but he was pretty sure that it wasn't pleasant.

"Emphasis on 'a lot'. Add the fact that we humiliated them, we are completely screwed when they find us," said Mica as he is tinkering with his gun. He didn't have any particular reason to tinker with his weapon, but it was helping him keep his mind off his seemingly impending doom. It was all he could do to keep himself from panicking over this. Everyone in the squad seemed to be doing something similar, in order to ease the fear they were feeling over this. Albeit they weren't really hiding their emotions well on their faces as they were all scared of what will happen next.

However, they would end up halting their activities when Faldio, walking in, looked around and asked them "Any of you guys seen Welkin?"

The squad looked around and actually noticed that Welkin wasn't around at all. up and leave He was here when they all gathered a few hours ago, and they all thought that he was still here. Nobody saw or noticed him get That would have explained why it was so damn quiet. No one seemed to know exactly where Welkin even was for that matter, for he wasn't in their barracks. It didn't seem like Welkin to just leave without saying a word or at least telling them that he would be gone. So for him to just leave without a word was just unlike him at all. That was both interesting, as well a little worrying. They didn't know if he was simply leaving the fort to look for nature or if he was going to do something incredibly stupid.

"He disappears. That is a first for Welkin if I ever saw it," commented Jack as he looks around but Welkin is not in the room.

"Where the heck did he go?" asked Alicia, wondering where the hell he went off to.

"I think he said something about going to the vehicle hanger," answered Isara, remembering that little bit of info just now.

"Why would he go to the vehicle hanger? I mean it's practically empty right now," notified Alicia.

"Except the _Edelweiss_ and the _Shamrock Mk II_ are there now. And his gear is inside that tank also. You forgot that," pointed out Jack. As he said that, everyone seemed to look at him as if he had solved the mystery as to what Welkin was probably doing at the moment. They remembered that after Welkin informed them about Randgriz's capitulation, he seemed to be thinking long and hard about what Faldio said as well as what had been happening since that fateful day in Bruhl over a moth ago when the war began. It seemed like it was on his mind all of a sudden, and a small while ago, Jack mentioned that _"Lelouch is probably only doing this ti get to you Welkin. He wants you dead more than anyone. And that's saying something"_. He did have a point there however.

Lelouch had no real interest in participating in the war here in Gallia, even after is started. The only reason he even came here was that he was given the chance to settle an old score between Welkin's father and Lelouch's mother. No more, and no less. And Jack knew that Lelouch wasn't just going to sit quietly on the now vacant throne in Castle Randgriz while he and Welkin haven't truly faced each other in a real, full-fledged battle. He would stay and wait till he found Welkin and he would have that challenge he's been wanting for so long. And apparently Welkin knew that too because it seemed like the moment Alicia, Largo, Rosie, and Isara realized that, they instantly bolted off towards the vehicle hanger at breakneck speed.

Jack and the others were slightly confused as to what was going on. But nonetheless, they went after them, feeling that they were on to something and it would probably be best if they followed them. Once they all piled out and followed the four to the vehicle hanger, Faldio merely blinked in surprise as he had no idea what to make out of all this.

* * *

_Inside the Gallian Vehicle Hanger_

In the vehicle hanger, Welkin was standing by the _Edelweiss_ and the _Shamrock Mk II_ and he was packing his gear and weapons into his backpack. He knew that at any moment that his squad mates would come down here to find out just what he was doing here. All the time while he was doing this, he seemed to be haunted by Faldio's words, that he seemed to be just giving up. Though Welkin had tried to put it out of his mind, he knew that Faldio was right in more ways than one. They couldn't just give up, not now. They had to do something in order to prevent Gallia from falling into German hands and having another long period of occupation. And the only way they would be able to do that was to take back Randgriz from Lelouch, despite how seemingly impossible the odds were for that to happen. But he knew that if they could accomplish that, then the country would be saved. All Welkin needed was to come up with a plan. And the first part of that plan: Get his squad to join them.

"Welkin!" shouted the voice of Alicia, alerting him that they were here. Taking a quick look he saw Alicia at the head of the pack with the whole Squad seemingly trying to catch up with her. Soon, Welkin went pack to packing his gear and the moment that he was finished, Alicia had already reached him. Grabbing him by the shoulder, she turned him to face her and from the expression on her face, she was not happy at all.

"Welkin! What are you doing?!" cried out Alicia, holding his jacket in one hand.

After getting Alicia to let him go, he replied with "Well what does it look like I'm doing?"

"It _looks_ like you're doing something that goes above and beyond stupid. Even for you Welkin," answered Jack, joining the duo along with the rest of the squad.

"Well what am I supposed to do? You said it yourself Jack. Lelouch is only here for me," pointed out Welkin.

Largo joined this conversation, saying "Yeah well I doubt that means that you should just surrender yourself to him. There's no reason for that boss."

"I didn't say I was surrendering. I'm going to him," corrected Welkin, explaining his true intention: to take on Lelouch. At this point, the whole squad was in an uproar about this as they were trying to convince Welkin that this was a completely suicidal plan and that this wasn't going to solve a damn thing. Each of them were shouting something at Welkin as he began climbing onto the _Edelweiss_ and threw his gear into the tank through the turret hatch and seemed to be preparing to climb in and drive both him and the tank straight towards Randgriz.

"Are you crazy?! You're gonna get killed!"

"You won't make it within ten miles of Randgriz! Not by yourself at least!"

"You seriously want to take on the whole damn German Army by yourself?!"

"No that's not what I _want_ to do but that's what I'm _going_ to do!" shouted back Welkin, looking directly at his squad. The sudden outburst actually surprised them, causing them to automatically stop shouting and be silent. Welkin didn't seem like the kind of person that was prone to giving these kinds of outbursts yet here he was, having just given one in order to shut them all up. He stood there, collecting his thoughts before giving the next part of his bid to try and win over the Squad to help him.

"This place...it's our home. It's the only home I've ever known. And I can't even go back to Bruhl if this is over. I go back, and nothing is ever going to be the same. If I go back, then they'll take Isara away from me and throw into the concentration camps. She's the only family I have left and if they do that, I'll never see her again. This place guys, this country, it means something. And I'm not willing to just give up on it just yet. I'm going to take this fight straight to Lelouch's front door in Randgriz and show him what people like us can do. And I know that I have no right to ask any of you this, but will you fight with me? One more time?" said Welkin, drawing on whatever he could to try and convince them to come with him. All he could do was hope that they would see things from his point of view and be willing to join.

They were all silent as they thought about what he just said. He did have merits to what he was trying to tell them. Gallia was their home, and nothing in their lives would actually stay the same if the Germans occupied it again like they did for over two hundred years. Gallia was still bearing the scars of this event and it would be almost impossible for them to try and thwart off German occupation again. And if they gave up, the rest of their lives would be spent in misery as they had to try and adjust to Nazi occupation. It was by far the most unpleasing thing for them to think about. Some of them would wind up in concentration camps or be killed by the Germans as they swept through the country looking for 'undesirables' or people whom they would consider potential enemies. They agreed with Welkin in that something needed to be done, but each of them were too afraid to admit it because they didn't want to end up on some suicide mission where they would all likely be killed and nothing would be prevented.

Suddenly, Alicia climbed up onto the _Edelweiss_ to get to Welkin's level before turning to face him and looking him directly in the eyes. Welkin saw that she had the same look of determination on her face as she did when they first meet back at Bruhl. He could see the same fiery passion and determination that helped see her through all that has happened so far, and no doubt would help her see through whatever came her way. She looked at Welkin and said "I'm in. All the way."

This brought a smile to Welkin's face. It looks like she was finally being able to trust him for once when it comes to his plans. And with her on his side, he looked to the rest to see if they would follow Alicia's lead. Not to long after Alicia said her part, Isara climbed onto the _Edelweiss_ as well and replied with "I'm in too Welks. I always will be."

_"Next up was me sadly. At this point I was already thinking that Welkin had gone bat-shit insane. Taking on a whole damn army by yourself went beyond stupid. And it didn't make any difference if the whole squad went along with him. The result would just be the same: everyone ending up dead. I didn't have a clue exactly on how Welkin planned on winning this supposedly impossible fight, but considering all that he managed to accomplish so far, I thought to myself, 'Eh, what the hell'. I've been on suicide missions before, but this...this one would have probably been worthy of bearing the name." - Jack Lawrence_

"I can't believe I'm actually saying this. And honestly, I'm still shocked. But...I'm in," added Jack, lowering his head and shaking it in disbelief as the words left his mouth. And once Jack sided with Welkin, things began to pick up traction with the rest of the squad.

"This is by the far the craziest thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth. But considering our options, I guess we don't have much of a choice," noted Rosie.

"I guess of we're all gonna die, might as well go out in a blaze of glory. To be honest, I always figured that this might be the way I'll go out. I'm with ya boss. Though for some reason I hope that I live long enough to regret it," said Largo. And with that, one by one the rest of the squad joined in, though most of them felt that they were going to end up regretting this decision when the fighting would begin and all hell would break loose. So now that everyone was on the same page, at least Welkin had something to start with in order to build up a force to take on Lelouch.

"So what's the plan Welkin? We can't just march into the city," asked Jack, pointing out the vast disadvantage they were in when it came to numbers.

"I know. That's why we need to rally an army. One big enough to take on Lelouch's men," explained Welkin as he, Alicia, and Isara climbed down from the _Edelweiss_. He figured that the only way that they would be able to fight Lelouch head on was to rally an army big enough to oppose him.

"And just where are we going to find the soldiers to make up this army of ours?" asked Rosie, wondering just how they were going to pull this off.

"She's right boss. The Regulars and the Militia are scattered throughout the front lines and have no idea what to do next," added Largo.

"That's why we have one here. If we can get the IVB on our side here, we'll have ten thousand men to start off the army with. All we need to do now is try to convince them to stay and follow us," answered Welkin, as he lead the Squad over to the Fort's command center, where no doubt the officers in charge of the IVB are already being gathered. Jack was the last one to follow them, knowing that convincing the IVB to take on a suicide mission was probably not going to be easy, if even possible. From the looks on their faces, they weren't exactly keen on staying here and helping any longer than they had too.

"I have a strange that they're going to less than receptive about that idea," muttered Jack to himself as quickly caught up with the others as they made for the command center.

* * *

_Meanwhile, at Castle Randgriz_

As the Gallian forces stayed on their positions on the front lines, contemplating whether to surrender or not, Byzantium was hosting a large party in Castle Randgriz to celebrate their victory over the Gallians and Lelouch and Kallen's official appointment as the new Archduke and Archduchess of Gallia. They had ordered their forces to hold their ground and not to take any military action against the Gallians until they received their official surrender from whatever military commanders that remained. As for now, they planned on celebrating their victory and enjoying the spoils of conquest once again as Germania had done for three thousand years.

Teutonic Knights were providing security for the event and their soldiers were stationed all around the castle to make sure that no one had any foolish ideas to try and break in and cause any trouble. As night had approached the city, members of the Royal Family, along with whatever nobles, military officers, and government officials that could make it, were now mingling within the throne room of the castle. It was becoming the greatest gathering of high ranking Nazis outside of the capital city of New Berlin. As the nobles were dressed in their best and dancing on the marble floor to German music composed by Ludwig van Beethoven, Byzantium was discussing things with Lelouch and Kallen, on what he expected of them now that they were going to be running things in Gallia. Hrist and the rest of the Royal Family that were there including Schniezel, Cornelia, Odysseus, Clovis, Euphemia, and Gunivere listened to him.

Lelouch was wearing something different than his military uniform. It was sort of a mixture between that worn by a nobleman and a military officer. It was a black uniform that consisted of a tunic with golden markings, a black belt with the white symbol of the Black Knights on it, as well as black pants and boots with gold trimmings on the pants as well. He wore a nice little jacket that was black on the outside and white on the inside with gold trimmings, and the collar on the back was raised upwards to give Lelouch a more striking appearance. The cuffs had the same fleur-de-lise symbol on them and his black gloves with white trimmings finished the main part of his uniform. He wore an impressive cloak as well that was black on the outside and red on the inside. On the back was a white colored fleur-de-lise symbol on the back as well as with white trimmings along with white colored epaulets. All of these gave him a very striking appearance which aside from his reputation, made him seem even more intimidating than he already was.

As for Kallen, she was wearing a bright and strapless red dress that covered her all the way down to her knees's as well as red heels, the dark blue necklace Lelouch gave her, as well as a small ankle bracelet with an image of a lotus flower on it. With Lelouch known throughout the Reich and all of Europa as the Black Prince, a moniker was also given for Kallen as people named her the Red Lotus, after the beautiful Japanese flower. And by the way they dressed, it seemed to show that it was a pretty good pair of nicknames as they proved that they were worthy of the nicknames. But whenever the two were together, they were often given a different nickname: the Black King and the Red Queen. This specific title became just as synonymous as their individual nicknames. And now, as the new Archduke and Archduchess of Gallia, they had been given a new set of titles to add to their little collection.

"I'm glad that this war is finally over. Now we can move on to more important business," said Odysseus.

Guinevere, taking a sip from her third Champagne glass, spoke out next saying "Why don't we continue onward? France is ripe for the taking. We'll be sipping wine from Paris in fifteen days."

"We have bigger issues. We may have the capital, but the Gallian military hasn't surrendered yet. We need to deal with them first in order to secure our hold here," noted Cordelia.

"Now that you two are in charge, I'm giving Gallia a greater sense of autonomy than we usually do with new provinces," explained Byzantium as he and Hrist were talking to Lelouch and Kallen.

"Didn't we do that the last time we had Gallia? And they still rebelled?" asked Kallen, noting how the last time they gave one of their provinces greater autonomy it resulted in Gallia managing to break free from German control.

"But this time you two will be in charge. And if you're children inherit all your traits, Gallia will stay ours indefinitely. Your branch of our family will go down in history," said Hrist after she took a sip from her champagne glass.

"That may be stretching things a little," pointed out Lelouch.

His comment causes Byzantium to let out a chuckle before patting him on the back and telling him "Stop with your semantics. Enjoy your victories dear brother. It's not everyday that one seizes control of another country and becomes a king. Enjoy your reign over Gallia while you can. Because someday you, your wife, and your children will inherit the entire Reich."

"Hopefully that won't be for a while now," said a man who was approaching the four of them. He was a twenty nine year old man wearing a _Wehrmacht_ Colonel's uniform, with the addition of having a red armband with some kind of black lettering on it. He had combed brown hair and eyes and seemed to be youthful and eager, which seemed to be in a never ending supply with the officers of the German military these days. Judging from the accent in his voice, he didn't sound like he was from any of Germania's provinces. In fact, judging from his accent, he sounded like we was a Gallian. And in fact, he was actually right on that.

"Ah, I was wondering when you would show up here Degrelle," noted Byzantium as he shook the man's hand.

"Well, I had to do some last minute checks on my men before I came down here your Majesty," noted Degrelle, explaining him being late.

"Ah well, just don't make it a habit. Lelouch, Kallen, meet our new ally, Léon Degrelle. Léon, well, you already know who they are," said Byzantium, introducing Lelouch and Kallen to him and vice-versa.

Léon gave a nice bow and said to Lelouch and Kallen "It's an honor to meet your Highness's."

Both Lelouch and Kallen had heard of Léon Degrelle even before they were sent into Gallia. He was a prominent journalist with the Gallian Gazette and politician who was the founder and leader of the Rexist party, a fascist political party that held a few seats within the Gallian Parliament but had little in the means of actual power. Any fascist political group that sprung up in Europa almost always had ties to the Nazis as well as financial backing. They were usually thought of as legitimate extensions of Nazi influence in other Europan nations. Thankfully, only a few held power over nations like Italy and Spain. Others had many members but few seats within the governments of Rexists were Gallia's fascist party and had members throughout the country. They essentially believed that Gallia needed a government with strong leadership in it's royal line instead of one where the nobility dominated things and made Gallia weaker thanks to their corruption. They were also ones who didn't like the Darcsens and believed that they should either be removed from Gallia entirely or be confined to concentration camps like the Germans do with them. Their symbol was that of a red flag with the word 'REX' written in black and made to fit into the picture of the black crown drawn into it.

They were founded about five years ago and begun steadily rising in terms of numbers throughout the years. And now, thanks to the Nazi invasion of Gallia and Lelouch's capture of Randgriz, Degrelle and his Rexists were given an opportunity to help change things in Gallia. Léon made a deal with Byzantium and offered the help of him and his organization to Prince Lelouch and Princess Kallen's rule over Gallia. Byzantium accepted his help, making him a Colonel in the _Wehrmacht_ and commander of a special unit that would be placed under his command.

"I'm sorry to ask but what men do you mean? I thought we knew all the commanders of the units occupying the city," inquired Kallen, not seeing where this was going.

"That was another thing I was planning on showing you. Come with me," said Byzantium as he lead them to a balcony overlooking the large courtyard in front of the castle. Once they were all there, they looked before they to see a large group of infantry, perhaps a thousand in all, standing in formation before them in Wehrmacht uniforms. But these troops weren't standard soldiers in the German military. In fact, these were actually Gallians serving in Degrelle's unit, the Rexist Militia. They were made of members of the Rexist political party, Gallian POW's, Gallian defectors, and Gallian volunteers who had decided to fight for the Nazi Empire. Currently, they totaled up to ninety thousand men and women, equaling an entire division of manpower. They were given German uniforms and overcoats, along with helmets from the Great War, German equipment, and German vehicles, but as for weapons, they were given Gallian weaponry from the German's captured stocks from during their invasion, as well as some older weapons like the MP-18 sub-machine gun and MG08 heavy machine gun. They also had armor plating as well and it helped give them a more terrifying presence. And to help distinguish themselves from the other German troops, they wore the Rexist armband as well as had the Rexist symbol on their helmets. Also they had the Gallian flag patch sewn into the right sleeve of their uniforms. Also, to help with organization and efficiency, Degrelle adopted the Gallian class system for his infantry.

The few Rexist soldiers in front of the formation were holding three flags. The center flag was that of the Imperial Germanian Reich, with the two flanking each side was the banner of the Rexists and Lelouch's tri-color flag, which was now considered to be the new flag of Nazi-occupied Gallia. Seeing the troops before them, Léon looked to the members of the Royal Family and explained "I have a thousand troops here in the city, and many more of them on the way. My men pledge themselves to the service of our new Archduke and Archduchess."

"Impressive. Very impressive," commented Schniezel, looking at the mass of Gallians that have sworn allegiance to the Nazi Reich.

"The era of House Randgriz's rule over Gallia has come to an end. The age, of the Gallian Reich...has begun," announced Byzantium as the soldiers gave them a salute and shouted "Long Live Germania!"

* * *

**And so begins the Gallian Reich, the collaborator government of Gallia under Lelouch's control. Stay tuned for what will happen next.**

**And also, the appearance of the Rexist Militia. The Rexists was an actually political party in Belgium that collaborated with the Nazis in WWII. Since Belgium is part of this universe's Gallia, I thought it seemed appropriate. Their Leader, Léon Degrelle also existed and served as an officer of the _Wehrmacht_ and then the _Waffen SS_ later in the war. And as to the 90,000 soldiers in the Rexist Militia, it stems from the amount of both Belgian and Dutch volunteers in the _Wehrmacht_ during WWII which totaled to about 90,000.**

**Also, for the Rexist Militia uniforms, they wear old German uniforms from the Great War (World War I). But they essentially look like the German soldiers used in Battlefield 1 and the multiplayer. I added the Rexist armband and decal on the helmets just as a personal touch.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	90. Gathering Allies

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Fort Drakon Command Center_

**"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR BLOODY MIND?!"**

This was the response of Major Blackadder as he and the rest of the IVB officers listened to Welkin's proposal to form an army to retake Randgriz from the now _Archduke_ Lelouch vi Britannia. Those IVB officers present at the meeting was Blackadder himself, Lara Croft, Henri Defense, Saber, Dimitri, Natasha, Reznov, Daniel, and Samus. Welkin had brought long Alicia, Largo, Rosie, Isara, and Jack to try and convince the IVB to join their plan to liberate the city. However, like Jack said, they weren't exactly receptive to the idea. The moment that Welkin was finished pitching his idea, they were met with a lot of angry shouts as they reacted badly to the idea...very verbally. And each one had their own words to say about this.

"You're asking us to die for you?!" cried out Reznov.

"This isn't a plan! It's suicide!" shouted out Henri.

"The Black Prince is gonna tear you and us to shreds!" added Samus. They were finally silenced when Jack placed two fingers in his mouth and gave a high pitched whistle which shut them up pretty quick and allowed Welkin to talk some more.

"Look, I understand that this sounds far fetched but we need everyone we can rally in order to take back Randgriz," pleaded Welkin, trying his best to get them on their side for this.

"Lieutenant, the war is over. We lost and the Germans won. I am not willing to risk the lives of anymore soldiers of the IVB just to prolong the inevitable any longer," said Blackadder as he pointed out once again that the IVB no longer had any intentions to continue fighting Gallia's war against the Nazis. They had lost enough men as it was and they weren't willing to go on a suicide mission with a rag tag army of Gallians to try and retake their capital from the best military strategist the Nazis have. If they did that then the entire army would be cut to pieces in a matter of days, or worse, hours. And it seemed that the rest of the officers in the IVB agreed with their commander.

"But you can't just leave," said Alicia.

"But we can. Our orders were very clear. If the fighting appears to be lost, we were ordered to pack up immediately and flee. Now is the time for us to do so," commented Dimitri.

"Your plan isn't worth us throwing our lives away," added Natasha, crossing her arms while looking at Welkin. Natasha, as well as Reznov and Dimitri, knew a few things when it came to fruitless last stands. During the war against America, they had seen Russian soldiers killed en mass in worthless suicidal charges against American positions or in last ditch defenses that fell rather quickly. It would always result in hundreds or thousands of Russians being gunned down as they failed to make any headway to turn the war back into their favor. They had seen over and over their friends being cut to pieces all for the sake of those who couldn't accept that the war was lost and that they were prolonging the inevitable. And they were in no mood to see that happen again.

"We fought together a hundred years ago, and we drove the Germans out of Gallia together. Russians, Americans, British, French, and Gallians fought side by side. We won then, so how is now any different? If we work together we can do something that no one's ever done before: beat the Black Prince in a stand up fight," said Welkin, pointing out the history in that they all fought together during Gallia's War for Independence. They fought together and won that war so many years ago when the Germans seemed all but certain to win, and it seemed like now they were in the same situation. If they fought together, there a chance that they would be able to win this and deliver the Germans a great defeat. And there was a chance for them to defeat Lelouch, making such a victory a first, ever since he came onto thew scene. Welkin was about to find out the hard way that the IVB officers didn't share the same sentiments due to recent actions by the Gallian government, as well as by the country's corrupt and arrogant aristocracy.

_"The thing about this is that after the death of Archduke Albert II about ten years ago, and with the aristocracy taking control once again government affairs, the way they officiated their duties pretty much soured their relations with a lot of countries, even the U.S., though they were still receiving aid from them. Their xenophobic attitude was one of the biggest things that lead to the worsening of relations between Gallia and many of the other major nations in the world. At the rate they went about doing this, it was no wonder that the United States was the only nation that was even willing to help, if by sending them supplies and organizing a band of ten thousand experienced and well trained volunteers to be sent as well. But ever since those volunteers arrived into Gallia, the higher ups in Gallian High Command as well as the aristocracy had been stretching their patience to the breaking point. And we were about to experience that strained patience first hand." - Jack Lawrence_

"From the first moment we've been here, your leaders have had nothing but disrespect for us. We were sent here to aid you and what do we get for it? Insults and lack of any respect," commented Saber, showing just how clearly angry she was at the whole situation at hand.

Largo, trying to dissuade their worries "Okay look, I know Damon can be a bit hard to deal with but-"

"It's not just Damon, it's all of your leaders. They treat us like they don't need us here and insult us whenever they have the opportunity," noted Rexnov.

"So if they're going to treat us like that, then we're gonna fulfill their request, and leave," added Saber, not looking pleased at all.

"Normally I'd say that you were overreacting but considering that Damon tried to have me executed via a firing squad, I can see your point there," noted Jack, remembering his sham trial not to long ago. Being once on the brunt of the Gallian elite's xenophobic traits, he could understand the doubts of the IVB officers. However, Alicia didn't seem to think that Jack bringing that event up was a good idea considering their current predicament at the moment. In a quick and subtle move, she elbowed him in the gut, signalling to Jack that now was a good time for him to shut the hell up at this point. With that in mind Jack let out a small groan as he clutched his gut in pain.

Even with everything they said to try and convince the IVB to stay, their answer remained the same as Blackadder once again stated "Look Lieutenant, I'm sorry for what's happened to your home. I really do sympathize with you. But our decision has been made. We are leaving Gallia. If you want to try to take back your country, then by all means, try your best. But we will not be part of it. I'm sorry."

Welkin could only sigh in defeat due to the outcome of this. He had hoped that they would be able to get the IVB on their side and join the army they were planning to build. Cause ten thousand experienced soldiers would go a long way in helping to train other less experienced soldiers in the Militia and the Regulars for the fight up ahead. However, it appeared that due to their experiences working with Gallian High Command seemed to have left them disinterested in continuing the fight here. So now, he simply walked out the door, feeling defeated with the rest of the group following behind them. As they left and moved into the hallway however, they heard someone call out from behind telling them to stop. Looking behind them, they saw Lara and Daniel walking towards them.

"Okay, just what exactly was your plan for this?" asked Lara, once she reached them.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" asked a surprised Welkin.

"Look, we don't agree with your suicidal plan, but we're not doing this for you," admitted Daniel, his eyes looking over to Lara who looked like she had something to say but seemed to be nervous about revealing it.

And with a deep sigh, she admitted "Look I'm actually doing this as a favor to you Jack."

"I'm sorry but...what?" inquired Jack, looking both shocked and surprised by her words. He didn't expect these words from Lara, in spite of their little conversation back at the tavern a few days ago.

"Look, I get you aren't gonna forgive me for what I did and I don't blame you for it. But this isn't about that. This whole situation reminds me of Anchorage, how you were the one who wanted to stay and fight while everyone wanted to leave. I didn't leave then, and I'm not leaving now. Whatever help you need, me and Daniel will give it," announced Lara, revealing the truth with Daniel nodding in agreement. Jack was actually taken a little aback by this as was the rest of the main members of Squad 7. Jack just didn't know how to respond for this. Part of him wanted to just ignore this because of what Lara did to them, but it was the other part of him that won in the end. He figured that maybe he could try, at least try, to put this bad blood between them behind and move on if he could. And right now, if they were going to pull off Welkin's crazy plan, they would need everyone that they could rally, and knowing Lara and Daniel, they can do that.

"Alright then. Think you guys can try to convince Blackadder and the rest of his troops to try and help us?" asked Jack, looking directly at them.

"Maybe, we can try. It's not going to be easy though, I'll tell you that," commented Daniel, mentioning their odds of success in doing so.

"Do whatever you can. Try telling them that this may be their only chance to actually beat Lelouch for once. They can't pass up an opportunity like that," suggested Welkin, trying to give them some advice on how to handle this situation.

"We can try that. They might listen if we tell them that," said Daniel.

"We have to get going though. If we don't head back soon, they're going to get suspicious," noted Lara as she and Daniel headed back to the command room. When they left, Welkin lead the others back to the rest of the squad and as they walked away, they were discussing about what they should do next, as their options were quite limited at the moment.

"The IVB may be out, but we can still recruit a few people here to help kick start the army," said Welkin.

"Not to be a downer but who else is here that we can actually convince to join us?" inquired Rosie, wondering where this was going.

"Well, we can get Faldio and Mary to help us. Faldio still has good soldiers and Mary has an entire company at her disposal," explained Isara, answering Rosie's question for Welkin. She immediately got a glare from Rosie that pretty much read 'I wasn't asking you'.

Jack retorted Isara's comment by pointing out "Mary's company has gone from an infantry unit to a mounted infantry unit. Which is a pretty fancy term for 'they're now literally cavalry'."

"What's that got to do with anything?" inquired Isara.

"Well ever since the Great War, cavalry tend to get cut to pieces when they go up against tanks. And considering the fact that the Nazis have a lot of them, then we're going to need more than a couple of infantry units, cavalry, and a few tanks," explained Jack. He did have a point. Armed with rifles and cutlasses, mounted horsemen tended to be wiped out whenever they went up against tanks armed with machine guns and cannons. With the Germans having some of the best tanks on the continent, the Gallians were going to need more in order to push them out of Randgriz.

"Jack, didn't you say that the Lanseal Battalion is here?" asked Alicia, remembering Jack mentioning that before they went on the blockade mission.

"Yeah, and commanded by Il Douchbag's daughter no less. Am I the only one who's surprised that the man has a daughter?" answered Jack, asking the question that had been bugging him for some time, hoping that they had an answer he was hoping for. And thankfully, it was the answer he was hoping for as they all said in unison 'No'. However, Welkin did note something, those Lanseal cadets, although fresh from the academy and inexperienced in actual combat, their training could prove useful in helping to prepare newly minted Militia units for urban warfare combat. And they would need that when they started fighting in the ruined streets and buildings of Randgriz.

"Either way, we're going to have to talk to her as well. We'll need all the help we can get," said Welkin, noting how they couldn't leave any option unexplored.

"Well I think she and the cadets are still here. My guess is that they're somewhere in the barracks," said Largo, pointing out the one possible area that they would be in.

Welkin walked off first, stating "I'll try and get her on our side. You guys go get Faldio and Mary. Hopefully we'll leave this fort with something to start an army with."

* * *

_Back at Castle Randgriz_

As the party continued in the throne room, Byzantium left with two Teutonic Knights as escorts over to where the now _former_ Regent Wilhelm II, his uncle whom he hadn't seen since Wilhelm was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of his younger brother, Byzantium's father, as the Great War was coming to an end. Ever since Byzantium had taken the throne, he had been rebuilding Germania once again into a force to be feared. Now, he felt that it was time for a little _reunion_ with his uncle, to show him just what he has accomplished in the time that he was gone. He walked over to the room where Lelouch's men were keeping him and was allowed inside by the two German soldiers guarding the door. As he walked inside he signaled for the two Tectonic Knights to wait outside until he was done.

Shutting the doors behind him, he looked to see his uncle's room within Castle Randgriz. Like much rooms where members of Royal families resided in, it was filled with furniture, rugs, curtains, and tapestries made out of some of the finest materials available today on the market. Currently, the former Kaiser was standing in the middle of the room, holding his cane, as if he was expecting Byzantium to show up. And from the look on his face, it appeared that he wasn't exactly thrilled to see his nephew, and for several good reasons. The big one was that Byzantium was crucial in having Wilhelm expelled from his own country and family. And as Wilhelm resided in Gallia, he kept close tabs on Byzantium's rise to power and noted just how ruthless and manipulative he seemed to be in pursuing his goals. Perhaps even more ruthless than any other known ruler in history. Which more than once reminded Wilhelm of how much people despised him for his role in starting the Great War.

"Well, it seems that they've been treating you rather well uncle. Despite the fact that these people don't exactly live up to the standards we set back home," said Byzantium, starting this conversation on a somewhat civil tone.

"Why don't you dispense with the pleasantries Byzantium, and just tell me why you're here?" asked Wilhelm, ending their civil conversation just a few seconds after it started.

"Why the hostility uncle? Aren't you the least bit happy to be back in German soil? Gallia now belongs to us and now you're home again," said Byzantium, still remaining civil despite the hostility coming from his uncle. Byzantium seemed to have forgotten that Wilhelm was banned from ever coming back inside Germania after he abdicated his position. Now that Gallia seemed to be in German hands, it would likely mean that Wilhelm would have to leave again and find sanctuary somewhere else in Europa. And considering how Lelouch's speech would have made the rest of the continent all the more tense about German military actions, that would be more difficult than one would imagine. If things were going to get that bad, then he would end up having to run to America and see that if they would be more willing to let him in than other countries in Europa would be at this point.

"You weren't this civil when you and my brother had me removed from power," noted Wilhelm using his cane to point directly at Byzantium.

"Yes well that was unavoidable really. The war was already lost and we needed someone to blame for it uncle. You just fit the bill for a scapegoat. It was nothing personal uncle. It was just...how did you use to put it? Ah yes, good business. I'm sure you would have done the same for my father had he been in your position," said Byzantium as he slowly walked around Byzantium, hands behind his back, not showing any eye contact at all with his disgraced uncle. Byzantium's words did hold some truth as Wilhelm would have most likely done the same thing back in the day had their roles been reversed. Unfortunately, many things had changed since then.

"That may be true. But I'm not the same man I was back in 1914. Spending time in another nation changes your views and your perspectives of things. Perhaps you of all people should try it," explained Wilhelm, not backing down.

Byzantium let out a slight laugh at his comment before saying "Not willing to. I am perfectly contempt in what I am now. I will become what every Kaiser or Kaiserina before me couldn't do: unite all of Europa under our banner. Under an iron sky."

Wilhelm could only stare at his nephew in disappointment at what he had become. He had become the very persona of what Europa, and the world saw in their nation: as a country ruled by tyrants who wanted nothing more than to spread their ideology and iron grip across the globe. Though Wilhelm did a good job of portraying the dictator of Germania during the Great War, he never really had the vast goals that Byzantium had. While Wilhelm was content in ruling Europa and Europa alone, Byzantium was interested in ruling the world as a much grander prize. Wilhelm figured that such goals would eventually lead to the downfall of the German people, though Byzantium never truly seemed to care about the consequences of his actions. He was always self assured that his actions were right and that it was his grand right to rule over all mankind that he didn't seem to care just how many people died in order to achieve that goal. Ever since Wilhelm had lived in Gallia, much of his past views had changed to see that what Byzantium was doing, it truly was terrible.

"You sit now in these vast halls with a crown upon your head, an army at your command, vast wealth, and power beyond your comprehension. And yet you are lesser now than you have ever been," said Wilhelm in a disapproving tone as he looked upon the monster that his nephew had become.

With that comment, whatever civil attitude Byzantium was playing had effectively disappeared as he walked over to his uncle and with one swift move, grabbed his uncle by the neck tightly with his hand within an armored gauntlet. Wilhelm gasped as he tried to break Byzantium's grip upon him but all his attempts were futile as Byzantium was stronger than he was. As Byzantium was holding his uncle in his iron grip, he glared at him with anger visible within the Kaiser's eyes. He then spoke to his uncle one more time, saying "I am ten times the Emperor that my father, you, or anyone that came before me was. I will be the one that ensure we achieve what we have waited so long for. I will be the one that makes us what we were destined to be...as the masters of this world."

And with that, Byzantium let his uncle go and walked towards the door out of here, leaving Wilhelm to gasp and cough as he tried to catch his breath. He managed to catch a few moments of Byzantium exiting and telling the soldiers to not allow Wilhelm to leave this room under any circumstance. And as the doors were closed and locked, Wilhelm muttered to himself in regards to his nephew "They were right...you cannot see what you've become."

* * *

_Back at Fort Drakon_

_Several Minutes Later_

A large section of the barracks at Fort Drakon had been chosen to house the soldiers of the Lanseal Battalion, though it seemed that it would no longer be necessary with current events. Even though the Gallian forces hadn't announced their surrender, perhaps it was time for the cadets to pack up and just head on back to the academy. Many of the cadets were looking forward to doing their part in fighting this war when they arrived, but with Randgriz now under German occupation, it seemed like now they wouldn't get that chance at all anymore. So Isabella told them to just pack up their gear and equipment. Isabella knew that her father was now being held prisoner by Lelouch at this moment wasn't exactly sitting well with her. She knew how much of an asshole that he was, but she was still her father regardless. She couldn't just ignore that. But there was nothing that she or her men could do alone to change that. To her, all that she could do was surrender and maintain what little dignity she had left.

"We really just leaving ma'am?" asked one of her cadets, looking at her for an answer.

"Yeah. Yeah we are," answered Isabella in a sad tone, not at all pleased with the truth in her words.

"Maybe, but maybe not," said a voice coming from behind Isabella. She turned around to see none other than Lieutenant Welkin Gunther himself, looking like he had something that he wanted to tell her. She had no idea what it was that he wanted but from the way he look and how fast he was approaching, it seemed like it was pretty damned important.

"Lieutenant Gunther? Is there a reason for-" said Isabella, starting to talk but Welkin interrupted by grabbing her by the rest and pulling her into the hall before closing the door, intending that the two of them talk in private.

"Look, what I have to tell you is going to probably sound far fetched and crazy, but it's something that you need to listen to," said Welkin, warning her that she may find this to be somewhat crazy.

Isabella opened her mouth to try and object but no words came out of her mouth. She eventually just decided to just listen out to what Welkin had to say and then judge it once it was over. Soon she was listening to Welkin tell about he was planning to build up and army to try and retake Randgriz from Lelouch, that he was going to try and work on gathering them together and he wanted to know if she was willing to help. When he was finished, Isabella didn't know how to respond to this. On one hand she thought that this was perhaps the craziest thing that she had ever heard in her entire life. But for some reason, she also thought that this was probably crazy enough that it just might work. In her mind she was struggling to come with a conclusion as to how she would respond to this. Eventually she came to a difficult decision, hopefully one that she wouldn't end up regretting.

"I don't know how on earth you even managed to come up with this plan...but from where I'm standing...I guess we don't have much of a choice," answered Isabella, pinching her brow.

"Well we need to get more people on our side. Lelouch is going to have an entire army stationed in Randgriz. We'll need anyone who can carry a rifle if we're going to take the city back," noted Welkin.

"In order to do that you're going to need to get the message out. Maybe on some kind of radio announcement on Gallian military channels. But with Lelouch in control of the capital, all of our channels, both military and civilian will have been compromised," said Isabella. If they sent a message over the radio or any kind of channel, the Germans would no doubt identify it, intercept their message, and send the Luftwaffe to bomb the hell out of them, eliminating the army before they even got close to Randgriz. If they were going to get the message, then they were going to need to get creative. It was then that Welkin had an idea.

"There are other means to communicate other than radio. We still have Morse code and carrier pigeons don't we?" asked Welkin.

Isabella responded with "Well yeah, but that's with the Militia. They haven't fully upgraded yet. Only a few regiments have. The Regulars are all equipped with radios. The only way you're going to get any message to them is by radio and you can bet that the Germans are going to be listening in on every word."

"Well considering Jack told me that Lelouch is waiting for me to make a move, our actions aren't going to be a surprise to him," said Welkin as he began to walk off.

Isabella, watching him go, yelled out and asked "Where are you going?"

"To find Ellet and Koller and get a message written up, just get your troops ready to leave out in the morning," said Welkin as he moved out of sight, leaving Isabelle just standing in the hallway by herself and somewhat dumbfounded by Welkin's actions. She had heard that Welkin was a bit unorthodox when it came to military matters but planning a full scale counter-attack against the Germans under Lelouch's control seemed way more crazy than unorthodox. To her, she couldn't tell if Welkin was an interesting person...or just crazy. But it seemed like her opinion on him was going to get molded by whatever future events would happen in the coming days.

Peeking through the door, one of Isabella's cadets looked to her and asked "Everything all right ma'am? Should we continue packing?"

Isabella took a deep sigh before straightening her uniform, turning to face the cadet, and stating "Yes. But we're not going back to Lanseal. We're going with them."

* * *

**And this is where Welkin and the others take the first steps to building an army to retake Randgriz from Lelouch. I know I'm deviating from the story by adding this battle but trust me, there is more that is going to happen and it'll return to the storyline that you'll recognize from the game. But stay tuned, for the Battle of Randgriz is beginning to brew.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	91. The Army Gathers

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_April 25, 1935_

_Fort Drakon, Unoccupied Gallia_

_Early hours of the morning, before dawn_

_"I'm no stranger when it comes to last stands. I've had more than my fair share throughout my life. In Anchorage, I along with eleven other soldiers fought tooth and nail to keep back a large Russian force from taking the city. We barely made it out alive but in the end we managed to turn the tide of the entire war against Russia. Even though we managed to win that day, the odds that we would should have won, much less come out of that alive was pretty much set between slim to nil. The odds for us now were pretty much the same in comparison. We were going to try and assemble the biggest rag tag army in history so that we could take back a heavily fortified city that was currently occupied by German soldiers under the command of my old friend, Lelouch vi Britannia. There was no possible way one can put this into words that made it sound possible to accomplish without going up against big odds. I didn't know if we were going to win or lose. All I knew was that this was probably going to be the biggest fight of the war. My father told me once that in every major war, there are always three battles that determine the course it takes and who emerges the victor. It looked like we were all about to enter the first of those three battles. And here I was hoping that this battle would with me staying alive...because I was pretty sure that a whole lot of people weren't going to survive." - Jack Lawrence_

As dawn was getting ever closer, Squad 7, joined by Squad 1, Mary Read's company, and the Lanseal Battalion were preparing to set off from Fort Drakon to a yet to be determined location where they would try to rally their army in the effort to retake Randgriz. Granted their current numbers were small, only totaling about a few hundred in size. But hopefully within a week or so their numbers would swell to greater numbers where they would be able to fight Lelouch on their terms. For now, they were more focused on making sure they were ready for the long trip ahead of them, both physically and mentally. Physically because no doubt they would test their endurance to the limit in the fighting to come in the near future, and mentally because they needed to make sure that they could deal with the stress of what was to come. The path they were now treading was going to be tough, there was no doubt about that. But each and every one of them knew exactly what they had signed up for.

But that didn't help with the emotions that were brewing inside of them. Each of them could feel their hearts racing and their palms sweating as they knew the hell that they would soon be walking into. Their nervous feelings on the inside were matched by how anxious and frightened they appeared on the outside, despite their attempts to look otherwise. All of them felt that their worst fears were coming alive and that the hell that awaited them would be the one to take their lives and leave their cold bodies strewn across the battlefields to come. They had no idea what fate had in store for them in the events to come, but they were wise to be afraid of what was to come. For only a fool can say he is not afraid of marching straight into hell.

"I'll admit. This is probably the most stupid and crazy thing I've ever done in my entire life," commented Jack as he slung his M5A2 Folsom Carbine over his shoulder.

"Really? _This_ is the stupidest thing you've ever done?" inquired a disbelieving Rosie.

Climbing onto the back of the _Edelweiss_, Jack responded with "I have a done a lot of stupid things in my life ranging from the 'innocently stupid' to the 'completely idiotic and imbecilic', so I'm pretty sure that I can tell what's the stupidest thing that I've ever done. So...yeah, pretty much."

Hearing that answer, Rosie decided not to push the question any further and followed his lead as she climbed onto the back of the _Edelweiss_. Meanwhile, Alicia was nearby discussing things with Faldio, Mary, and Isabella, telling them everything that Welkin said to inform them about before he arrived. She had already told them that he, Ellet, and Koller are working on a message that it meant to help gather together the Gallian Militia and Regulars and have them meet somewhere where they can gather the troops, arm them all, train them as much as they can, and help come up with a plan to help liberate the city. It was a tall order to fill, and to add the fact that they didn't have an exact plan on what their next move will be wasn't all that reassuring either. But given their current circumstances they had to take what they had and figure out how to make it work. Thankfully they managed to get all three of them and their units on board with this, though it wasn't exactly easy for everyone.

Faldio joined up immediately, wanting a chance at payback at the Black Prince for tricking them and making himself the Archduke of Gallia. He had this infectious patriotic sense of duty that inspired the rest of his men to immediately join in the fight. Mary was more hesitant to join, with her experiences in Vasel making her see that this was probably them simply rushing in without thinking. Plus, Alicia was still a little irritated at her and Welkin for the sudden kiss...though she still couldn't figure out why it was so annoying to her. It took a lot but they managed to win her over. And as for Isabella, the daughter of 'Il Douchebag' himself, Welkin was the one who managed to bring her on board, though no one knew just how he managed to do so. As of now though, these officer and their units were going to help form the basis of their ragtag army.

"Let's just hope that Gunther manages to come up with something. Otherwise this whole thing is going to turn into one big slaughter really quickly," commented Isabella, showing her slight reluctance in this plan. She was all forward in making sure the Black Prince suffer a defeat for once, but she wasn't all that keen on actually dying without making any kind of difference.

"Knowing Welkin, I know he's got a plan cooked up...or is thinking of one. He's led his squad this far and they're all still here, so it's safe to assume that he probably knows what he's doing," said Faldio, trying to assure Isabella that everything was going to turn out okay. Secretly, he was still hoping that Welkin's actions would be able to back it up. And it looked like they were about to have a chance at seeing that cause he could now see him, Ellet, and Koller heading straight for them, with Koller carrying a large radio strapped to his back. Mary, due to the embarrassing moment between her and Welkin back at the medical ward a few days ago, merely left the group to check on her men rather than feel anymore awkward than she already did around Welkin.

When they got to the group, Ellet, beaming with excitement, said "Alright. Our little speech is made, been recorded, and is on a loop on just about every Gallian military channel."

"Which doesn't explain why you wanted me to lug this thing here," commented Koller as he put down the radio and breathed a sigh of relief that if was finally off his back.

"Yeah, why did you bring that? We already have radios...although none of them have much power at the moment," pointed out Faldio.

Welkin answered by informing them all "She wants you guys to hear the speech that we did so she brought the radio so we can tune it, find a channel, and then listen into it before we head out."

"Shouldn't we be focused on heading out right now? I mean, we are kind of on a time limit here," noted Largo, now on the _Edelweiss_ alongside Jack and Rosie. This was true as every moment that they squandered was another moment that Lelouch had to strengthen his position in Randgriz by pulling more troops into the city and fortifying it to make it almost impossible to assault. So it was safe to say that they needed to start rallying that army right now if they can by heading to the rendezvous point that Welkin had decided to create the staging area. Hopefully it would be in an area big enough to hold an army and have enough places to hid it from any scout planes that Lelouch would send to try and find them.

"I suppose so, we can listen to it on the way to the forest," replied Welkin, agreeing with Largo.

"Forest?" asked Alicia, inquiring what he meant by that.

"We're heading to the Amaranthine Forest. That's where we're gathering the army," answered Welkin, explaining it to her. The Amaranthine Forest was a large forest just due west of Fort Amaranthine, and named after the same General who was the fort's namesake. It was surrounded by hills and the canopy was thick enough to make large parts of it unable to be seen from low flying planes. There were also several abandoned villages in the area that ranged from small to medium in size. They could both be found in the forest and around it. Each of these three places made good places to hide large groups of people unnoticed. This made it an ideal spot where one could gather a military force in secret. Hopefully they could manage to assemble such a force quickly enough so that they could assault Randgriz and take it back from Lelouch once and for all.

"Hold on a minute there. You're not going anywhere without me!" shouted a voice. Everyone looked to see Lucina approaching them, escorted by three ALF fighters armed with MP-40's. No one except for Welkin was sure as to why she was here, but it was obvious that they were all about to find out.

Jack was the first one to ask what everyone was thinking by asking Lucina as she approached the group "Let me guess. Welkin asked you to join us on the most crazy and suicidal military operation in history too?"

"Fighting against enemy forces that superior numbers, weaponry, and tactics is something that I'm well proficient at Jack. That and my men can infiltrate Randgriz to get details on German positions in the city as well as locations of vital areas in the city for them to take," answered Lucina, explaining with pride.

It was true that after Welkin convinced Isabella to join the mission, he figured that it was best to have Lucina involved in the operation as well. He figured that since Lucina and her people were a very successful resistance group that had managed to operate inside Germania throughout the past twenty years despite the Nazis best attempts at quashing them was one big plus on their list. That and resistance groups were known to operate in the shadows and manage to get themselves into places where they shouldn't be in the first place as well as managing to hide from the authorities. This means that Lucina's experience would help them greatly in avoiding German detection as well as helping to find a way into Randgriz to get past Lelouch's defenses. So to Welkin it seemed only natural that he should bring Lucina and use her contacts and fighters as part of the army they were assembling.

Isara, looking at them as she worked on the treads of the _Edelweiss_, commented on this by saying "It'll be nice to have you on our side again Lucy."

Lucina let out a light chuckle before responding with "Only a few people call me that. One is my family, and the other is the big mouthed Yankee on the tank over there."

Rosie covered Jack's mouth before he could open it up to shoot back at Lucina with a smart mouthed remark. With Jack now temporarily silenced, Welkin decided that it was probably time for them to head out at this point. With the IVB getting ready to bail out of the country as fast as they can, the Gallians were going to need to hurry up and rally an army quickly before Lelouch had an opportunity to lock down Randgriz and the rest of occupied Gallia down any further. Hopefully they would be able to do so before Lelouch even gets the chance to start. With that Welkin climbed on board the _Edelweiss_ and signaled for everyone else to get ready to move out. The soldiers of Squad 7, Mary's company, Squad 1, and the Lanseal Battalion boarded their vehicles one by one in preparation for the long trip ahead of them. This will be a long and arduous journey, but they would have to brave it nonetheless if they were to succeed in their task.

The gates of Fort Drakon opened one more time as the Gallians moved out of the fort and towards a battle, but this time they were marching to gather others to join them. With Welkin's message circulating loud and clear throughout the radio waves, so hopefully there would be Gallians that would hear it and head to their location. In his mind, Welkin hoped that by the time that they arrived, there would already be a lot of soldiers waiting for them. And as the rays of sunlight of the morning dawn began shining across the horizon, they all hoped that this morning would be the start of a change in the war for everyone.

* * *

_Throughout the sectors of the front lines_

As the day began, a Gallian unit of Regulars and Militiamen on the Central Front gathered around their radio to listen into Welkin's speech that had been circulating among the radio waves for a while now. They all had been waiting for any sign of German movement since Lelouch announced his capture of Randgriz and made Archduke as well. They didn't know whether they should keep on fighting or to simply surrender outright at the first sign of a German advance. It was conflicting for them because the people among them were split down the middle on what to do about all of this. For now, they were halting on their argument because one of the Militia soldier that had stumbled upon Welkin's message decided that they should hear it for themselves. Turning the radio on, the radio operator waited through headphones for the speech to begin again and once it did, he activated the speakers and the Gallian Militiamen and Regulars all heard Welkin's voice.

_**"To anyone listening to this message, I ask for you to hear out what I have to say. My name is Lieutenant Welkin Gunther, commander of the Gallian Militia's 7th Platoon of the Third Regiment. Just yesterday, Lelouch vi Britannia seized control of Randgriz and made himself the Archduke of Gallia. He's ordering the remaining Gallian Armed Forces to stand down. I'm asking you to ignore his words. The Germans want you to surrender, to think that there isn't any hope left for Gallia to win this war. They think this war is over, that we've been beaten. But they. Are. Wrong."**_

**Play Battlefield 1 Classic Theme (Main Theme)**

In another area of the country, there was a seemingly abandoned road that passed by a farm behind Gallian lines. Outside, an old farmer was tending to his garden when he heard the sound of marching boots and the rumbling of tanks heading in his direction. As he got up, he almost had the urge to run back inside his home and hide, as he thought that it was the German Army coming down the road. But to his surprise, around the corner came not Germans, but a large group of Gallian Regulars that were moving to the rendezvous point, bringing with them _Theimer_ tanks, Gallian Light Tanks, and Gallian Tank Destroyers. They were on their way to Amaranthine Forest where the army was gathering, having heard Welkin's speech. As they passed by the old man's farm, a few of them looked over to him and gave a nice wave and a smile. Happy to see friendly faces, the old man waved back before heading back to work, silently wishing them the best in whatever they were going to do.

_**"The German army isn't going to stop here. They'll use Gallia as a staging ground, and drain our resources to fuel their war machine as they march across the face of Europa. Our homes will be occupied by German soldiers, our people would be conscripted to fight in their wars, and the lives that you knew before the war would cease to exist. That is why we must fight. We must fight to protect what is ours: our homes, our families, our way of life. We aren't doing this for the nobles who tell us to advance, or for the Federation to be used as a shield. We are doing this because it's our home and we have a right to defend it."**_

In a small town in central Gallia, a group of about twenty locals were about to hop onto trucks and then drive towards the Amaranthine Forest. Welkin's message was being broadcast across civilian channels as well as the military ones so that as many people as possible could hear it and come to help. These twenty people ranged in age from teenagers to those few that were in their early sixties. They were still in their civilian clothes and were now in the process of saying goodbye to their loved ones before they head off to join Welkin's rag tag army to try and fight against Lelouch. One such man was saying goodbye to his parents, assuring them that he'll be alright with everyone from their hometown looking after him. And another man was giving a hug to his wife who was crying on his shoulder, tears beginning to soak into the fabric of his shirt as he tried to soothe her worries and dissuade her fears. He told her that he'll stay safe, and that he always will. He then looked to his five year old son, knelt down to his level, and told him that while he's gone, his son has to be the man of the house and look after his mom. The boy then rushed and gave his father one more hug which the father reciprocated, taking the time to have this one moment with his little boy. Once it was over, he got back up and got into the back of the trucks with the rest of those who had volunteered for this. And as the engines started, they waved to their loved ones one final time as the they drove out of the town and towards the forest where the army was gathering.

_**"We've faced every challenge set against us and managed to come out alive. We survived two hundred years of German occupation, yet never lost our culture or our ways while under their rule. We fought a bloody revolution to throw off their rule, and despite all the odds against us, we defeated them and won our independence back. When the Great War waged across the continent, and millions died in the trenches, we held the German advance long enough for the Federation to bring it to a stop. We survived four years of trench warfare and we never gave up. Gallians never give up, we're stubborn like that."**_

After a long journey that lasted all the way till dusk, the convoy led by Squad 7 reached the outskirts of the Amaranthine forest and entered the woods via one of the roads leading into it. As they enter the forest, they already see Gallian Regulars guarding the entrance to the forest. And when they past the guards, the Regulars gave them all a salute as they drove into the forest, heading directly for the center of it all. Ten minutes later, they soon found a large camp set up by the Gallian Militiamen, Regulars, and civilian volunteers that had made it here before they did. There were white tents set up everywhere to house those who came, and the troops had set up camouflage nets up into the canopy to keep them hidden from any German scout plane that flew too close. Also inside their camp was every piece of artillery, machine guns, tanks, captured German Panzers, fuel, weaponry, and any kind of supplies that they could get their hands on for the offensive. And they all seemed to be working hard in preparing for Welkin as every seemed to have turned out to await his arrival. It seemed like thousands, maybe tens of thousands had already arrived.

And as the Squad looked on to those they had already gathered, all their fears seem to go away for a moment. If they had gathered this many people to retake the capital in just one day, then perhaps they actually did stand a chance of fighting against Lelouch and pulling off this crazy plan. Maybe they could really succeed in this. Their goal may have seemed far reached, but as of now, it seemed just closer within their grasp. And as Jack let out a hearty laugh at what he saw, he patted Welkin on the back and said with a smile "Congratulations Welkin! You just managed to assemble the biggest ragtag army that I have ever seen in my entire life!"

_**"If we stand together, than we can defeat any obstacle in our path. My ancestor fought for us in the Gallian Revolution, my father fought for us in the Great War, and now I ask that you follow me as we will take this fight to Randgriz and push Lelouch out! If you wish to see your home free again, if you wish to see the Germans leave us alone, and if you wish to see a Gallian flag still fly across this land, meet me and my men in the Amaranthine Forest and there we will work and make history. Together, we will succeed, and together, we will triumph."**_

**End ****Battlefield 1 Classic Theme (Main Theme)**

* * *

_Meanwhile, at Castle Randgriz_

As Lelouch and Kallen's first official day as the new Archduke and Archduchess comes to an end, things have begun to change in Randgriz. German flags now flew over the city, and more German soldiers were brought in to secure the city, including several more units of Teutonic Knights, and twenty thousand more members of the Rexist Militia. The city of Randgriz was quickly turning into the biggest city outside of Germania that had the biggest German military presence in all of Europa. However, they had yet to see any of the remaining Gallian military forces surrendering. If this continued into the next day, Byzantium wanted Lelouch to continue marching until the rest of the country was under their control. Maximillian and his Triumvirate were recalled back to Ghirlandaio to help coordinate the Nazi occupation of Gallia once their military forces were completely dealt with, despite Lelouch saying that it was most likely that the Gallians would merely surrender instead of fighting back.

However, it seemed like there was going to be a fight after all. As the day was drawing to a close, they were alerted that one of their radio operators had discovered Welkin's message and wanted them to listen to it. They went to the radio room along with Isaac, Lightning, Suzaku, C.C, and Degrelles, though they wished that he would leave. Degrelles was given new authority by Byzantium that allowed him to operate independently of Lelouch's forces, not having to follow Lelouch's orders if he desired not too. But Lelouch was more focused upon the message that Gunther had circulating. After listening to it, he smirked as his plans were going exactly as he had predicted. With Randgriz under his control, he had forced Welkin's hand. Now he was building an army and preparing to launch an assault on Randgriz itself. And now, he knew precisely where he was going to be.

"What are your orders my Lord? If we contact the _Luftwaffe_, they can send their bombers to-" said the radio operator as he began offering a suggestion on what to do to Lelouch.

However, Lelouch cut him off by simply replying with "No."

It seemed that Degrelles took exception to that command. They knew where Welkin Gunther and his army was going to be. If they called in the _Luftwaffe_ they could burn that forest to ask and eliminate the threat completely. But here was Lelouch ordering the radio operator not to do so. He just couldn't understand why he wouldn't so this and win this war easily. Inquiring as to why, he asked him "Did you just say no? We have the ability to end this war here and now."

"I will end this with Gunther's defeat. He's coming here. And when he does, I will end this once and for all. Prepare our armies here, and fortify the city. We will turn this place into one big fortress. And when Gunther arrives...he and his men...will fall. I will fight him...but on my terms and my terms only," said Lelouch, grinning with a seemingly evil smirk on his face. He had a few tricks up his sleeve, and he intended to use them in order to end this little dispute between their families. If Gunther was coming to Randgriz, then Lelouch was going to arrange one hell of a reception for him.

* * *

_Dublin, Ireland, United Kingdom_

_Around the same time_

In Dublin, the capital of the Irish lands in the British Isles, a major meeting was about to happen at the city hall building. Where once the building served as the headquarters of the failed uprising in 1916 which failed to break British rule over Ireland, it was now serving as the seat of government for Great Britain's administration over Ireland. Tonight, a special meeting was to take place in this building. Representatives from America, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union were going to be there to discuss current events, mainly about the situation in Gallia. In the crowded meeting room, representative of the four major powers met to try and talk out what they would do about what's transpired in Gallia for the past few days. And the members present were divided as to what they should do with Gallia.

The meeting room was the size of a small conference room, and there was a circular wooden table in the middle with seating for four. In each corner, there was a flagpole with the flags of the four powers involved in this meeting. Representing the Americans in this meeting was Arron Lawrence, who had already been in London to discuss things with the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill, who was also at this meeting in order to represent Great Britain.

Winston Churchil was a portly man with a balding head and a fondness for Havana cigars, a fondness that was attributed to a youthful adventure in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. The sixty year old Prime Minister was also a charismatic man who had a great drive to do what needed to be done when others failed to make it work. Like Arron, he was a military veteran as well, having served in the British Army during a rebellion in British Sudan and fighting the Boer Wars in South Africa. He served in the government position as Admiralty of the Navy in the Great War before the disastrous Gallipoli campaign resulted in him resigning from the position. He eventually managed to work his way back up in the government where he was elected as Prime Minister of Great Britain and Ireland. Like Arron, he agreed that they should be more involved in the conflict raging in Gallia as he see's that if it falls then it would have repercussions on the rest of Europa. The same could not be said for his French counterpart.

Charles de Gaulle, a General in the French military, and a decent politician, was sent to this meeting to represent France. The forty-four year old Frenchman was wearing his officers uniform, with the epaulets and the badges signifying his rank as a General. His combed brown hair was kept underneath his kepi and he also had a small mustache as well. He was a Great War veteran who made his way up the ranks after the conflict had ended. He was also a supporter of the alliance that made up the Atlantic Federation and believed that they needed to stay strong in the face of German aggression. However, he was more concerned about the defense of France, which bordered Germania and had taken the brunt of their attack during the fighting on the Western Front back in the Great War. However, he didn't see much reason in intervening in Gallia. The fall of a small nation wasn't as concerning to him as worrying about the fate of the whole of Western Europa. So for him, he was more focused on preserving the Federation, despite the fact that it was beginning to fall apart.

The Russian member of the delegation here had similar sentiments. The Russian representative was none other than Dimitri Novogod, the new Premier of the Soviet Union who had taken office since the removal of Joseph Stalin and the end to the Soviet-American War last August. Due to the instability in the Soviet Union that had followed since the end of the war, he decided to attend the meeting personally while his associates attended to things back in Russia. The new leader of the Soviet Union was the youngest here, being only thirty-five years old. He was wearing a suit like Arron did and he had short brown hair that was neatly combed and green eyes which if you looked close enough could show his inexperience with political matters such as this. He grew up in the final years of Imperial Russia and participated in the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War as he fought with the Bolsheviks in both conflicts before working in a minor position in the Soviet government. He wasn't like most of those in power in Russia, he simply wanted what was best for his people, having lived as the son of a Russian peasant. He never had much intention of being in charge, but that all changed when the war ended. As the Russians tried to reign in the riots, they made Dimitri the new Premier, thinking that a fresh, young face would help calm people's fears and bring them to their side again. He was well liked by the people for his honesty and commitment to helping but they didn't think anything would change with the Soviets still in charge. But that didn't mean that he wasn't going to try his best.

Arron decided to start the conversation by pouring each of his fellow delegates a glass of water before saying "Look, now that we're all hear why don't we dispense with the small talk and get down to business. We need to keep helping the Gallians."

"I concur. We need to do something. More than what we've been doing up till now," added Churchill, taking a puff from his cigar.

"Well I'm not sure Gallia is worth saving. The country that exists now is a mere shadow of what it used to be when Archduke Albert II was in power. It's now controlled by nobles who came more about themselves than the people they're supposed to protect," pointed out Dimitri, with the nobles in Gallia reminding him too much of those who used to exist in Imperial Russia. He didn't like those kind of people, those who cared only for their own power and wealth. That's why he took part in the revolution, to make sure that corrupt people such as an aristocracy wouldn't be able to exploit good and honest working people. He had no interest in protecting them bacl then, and he isn't interested in doing it now.

"If Gallia falls, it'll make things worse for all of us. The only way that we can prevent it is by taking action. Military action," noted Arron.

Charles inquired "And how would that happen?"

"For one thing they can use Gallia to go around your little fortress wall your people have been building since the Great War ended. That and the amount of Ragnite there is enough to fuel the German war machine for a century at least," said Churchill, laying out a few points for De Gaulle.

"Gallia is a small country. Not a really big gain for the Germans. Everywhere else in Europa is though. Like my country and yours Mr. Secretary. They're more tempting targets to the Germans than Gallia is," said Dimitri to Arron.

Arron pointed out next "But Gallia is also going to be a propaganda victory for them. They'll go on about how they reclaimed their old province back and we simply stood by and did nothing to stop them. How do you think people are going to judge us if we do nothing? My son is over there now helping them and he's risking his life to try and help them. The least we can do is to actually commit to this. Send more troops to help fight this war."

"If we do that, we'll be starting another Great War. If our soldiers enter Gallia, it'll give the Germans a reason to declare war on us, and we'll be back where we were twenty years ago. And in case you haven't noticed, but we have troops in Gallia fighting there," said Charles in response.

Churchill corrected him by noting "The IVB are only ten thousand strong, compared to the hundreds of thousands of Germans already in Gallia. That hardly makes any difference when you compare the numbers. If we're going to drive the Germans back into their country, then the Gallians are going to need more men than what we've already sent to help."

"My people are sick of war. We were sick of fighting the Great War because it was a losing war for us and they were sick of fighting a losing war against the Americans. They don't want to be involved in another war that we would likely lose. And that is exactly what's going to happen if we get anymore involved than we are now. Besides we don't even know what's going on now. Their capital has fallen. By now they've all probably surrendered," said Dimitri, defending his position fiercely.

Arron decided to remind them of a little fact that they seemed to be forgetting: how they helped the Gallians before in the past. He said to them "A hundred years ago, Gallia was under German occupation. They started out as ragtag band of rebels seeking to overthrow them. The nations that each of us represent sent forces to aid the Gallians and they won. We made a commitment to protect these people. The very least we can do is honor that commitment and help them again."

"That's rich coming from you. You're people weren't even in the Great War," noted De Gualle, bringing up history as well.

"We had our own problems to deal with," reminded Arron. And he was right. Back in 1900, a man named Alejandro Riviera seized power in Mexico with German backing and made himself the dictator of Mexico. From there, he received financial, military, and political backing from the Nazi Reich and ruled Mexico with a powerful military trained by his German backers. However in 1910, bandits and revolutionaries joined together and started waging a guerrilla war against Alejandro's regime. When the Great War broke out in Europa, the then Kaiser Wilhelm II wanted to keep America out of the war due to the fact that Germania and their other ally, the Ottoman Empire, couldn't take them on along with every other nation they were fighting. So in 1916, Riviera launched an attack on an American border town, provoking America into declaring war on Mexico, starting the Second Mexican-American War. The war there was like the trench warfare of Europa but the Americans managed to slowly but surely gain ground as they fought Alejandro's military. With the defeat of Germania and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the new Kaiser, Charles zi Britannia, cut off all ties to Alejandro's regime, ending their support for his rule. And without German aid, the Mexican military soon crumbled under the American forces and Alejandro Riviera was soon removed from power and imprisoned as the war ended in 1920. With American support, the revolutionary forces managed to rebuild their country and reestablish ties with America. Arron fought in that war before retiring after the conflict ended and becoming involved in politics.

Just as Arron had said that, the door to the conference room opened up and a female attendant came in and handed them a document that had just been sent to them by the IVB in Gallia. The four of them read the document and each one was surprised and a little shocked by what it said. It seems now that their conversation was about to get more interesting. It said the following.

_From International Volunteers Brigade Headquarters, Fort Drakon, To London Command_

_Message: Gallian Regular Army and Militia forces amassing to retake capital from German forces. Estimated number already gathered: Fifteen to twenty thousand. More coming by the hour. Estimated number by end of week: One hundred thousand troops. Lieutenant Welkin Gunther in command, acting as leader of said force of Gallians. Chances of success: At first, suggested to be minimal. Odds now becoming better as time passes. Give this message to member nations of the International Volunteers Brigade. Gallians need assistance. Message End._

_Signed, Major Edmund Blackadder, Commander-in-Chief of the International Volunteers Brigade_

"Well I'll be damned. They're actually planning to keep on fighting. I'll give them this, they're pretty damn stubborn," commented Churchill, complimenting the Gallian spirit and their will to resist the Germans as he took another puff from his cigar.

"Their people have a will to fight, I will give them that. But that doesn't mean that they are going to succeed here. Lelouch won't let them win," said Dimitri. Though he did like seeing that the Gallian people were taking a stand against Nazi tyranny, this didn't change his opinion much. There was still a very good chance that they were going to lose this battle. A rag tag army of Gallian Militiamen and Regulars wasn't going to stand much of a chance against the Black Prince. He was going to cut them to ribbons.

"I agree. his message doesn't mean anything if they lose the battle," added De Gualle, agreeing with the Russian Premier.

Arron decided to try and settle this by suggesting a compromise. He said "Well then how about this? Just in case the Gallians do succeed, how about in the meantime we begin assembling a force of soldiers around here in secret so that we can assist them. If the Gallians win the battle and push Lelouch out, we send those soldiers in and commit ourselves to this fight."

"And if they lose? What do we do with this combined force of soldiers then?" inquired De Gualle, wondering where this was going.

"Then we send them back and we try to pick up the pieces afterward. I think that we can agree to this don't you think so?" asked Arron, waiting for their response to this. He then waited as the other three delegates looked at each other and thought about how to respond. Arron did give them a reasonable idea as to what they should do about this. If the Gallians did best Lelouch and take back Randgriz, it would show that they would have a chance of winning this war. And if they did, then it would provide enough incentive for America, Britain, France, and Russia to join alongside them in this war by fully committing their military forces to the Gallian cause. But should the Gallians fail, then they would simply have to cut their losses and try to evacuate whatever people they could before the German occupation went into full effect.

"I support your suggestion, Lawrence. We can use the area in between Ireland and England to gather a fleet, and use the land here to assemble the ground forces," said Churchill, providing a decent area to assemble their combined forces for the initiative.

"I suppose I have a few good soldiers that I can scrape together for this. But I won't fully commit to this unless the Gallians succeed," said De Gualle, stating his position on the plan.

"Same here. Russia's military is greatly weakened but I believe that I still have some good units left that I can provide for this. But the moment that the Gallians are defeated,I'm pulling them back to Russia where they belong," said Dimitri.

Arron asked again "But if they succeed, will you join my country and Britain in helping them?"

It took a moment for De Gualle and Dimitri to respond with both of them regrettably saying in unison "Yes."

"Alright. Then I suggest we contact our superiors and have them arrange to start gathering these troops and ships. The Gallians are sure going to need them."

* * *

**Things seem to be getting even more and more interesting. The Army that is to take back Randgriz is being assembled and the nations of Great Britain, France, America, and the Soviet Union are contemplating whether or not that they should help him. And it appears that Blackadder has been watching what's been happening and appears to have some second thoughts as to his position along with the members of the IVB. Stay tuned for what will happen next.**

**And just a reminder, in this universe the Easter Rising of 1916 did happen, but unlike what happened afterward, Ireland didn't leave Great Britain. They're still under British control here. So expect that there are still a lot of Irish soldiers serving in the British military at this time. **

**Now as for the whole Second Mexican-American War. Let me explain that to you. The idea stemmed from the Mexican Revolution and the Zimmerman Note. Before American entered World War I in real life they were involved in some degree in the Mexican Revolution which lasted from 1910 to 1920. What got them into World War 1 was the Zimmerman Note, a message sent from Germany to Mexico that stated if Mexico declared war on America, Germany would support them and help them gain back the territory that the United States took from them in 1848. This in turn was one of the factors that caused America to declare war on Germany and enter World War I in real life. So what I've done was take these two factor and merged them into a scenario that would have explained why in this universe, America never got involved in the Great War. Just thought I'd let you all know that.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	92. Both Sides Prepare for War

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Gallian Army Rally Point_

_Amaranthine Forest_

_2000 hours (8:00 pm)_

As night covered the forest, the staging area continued to receive new recruits, equipment, vehicles, and supplies that were coming by the hour. So far Welkin and his friends managed to get over twenty thousand Regulars and Militiamen to come to the forest and join them on the mission. It was more than what they originally assumed would come so that was good news for them and hopefully more would come in the next few days. They were going to need everything that they could scrape together in order to take back Randgriz from the German soldiers under Lelouch's command that were occupying it. For now, they needed to organize. They had to be prepared for the battle up ahead and be ready to stand against everything that Lelouch would be able to throw against them. To help plan for the attack, Welkin gathered Faldio, Lucina, Isabella, Mary, Alicia, Jack, as well as any other Sergeant and Lieutenant that had arrived so they could go over what they needed to do in order to be ready for the battle ahead.

They were all gathered around a table which was covered with maps of the city, surrounding areas, and the forest as well. They've already managed to come up with a preliminary plan as to how they would set themselves up to protect the camp site from any German units that came into the forest. They were going to set up small scattered defenses along the eastern side of their camp as well as in the small abandoned villages set around the forest. They'd be there to handle any German patrol that came to close to the forest. With that problem solved, they still had several more problems that they would have to deal with. These were associated with the amount of inexperienced troops they had, lack of any hard Intel on the enemy, and overall lack of any real logistics and organization on their part. Each and every one of these problems was enough to risk the lives of every Gallian in this army and give Lelouch another easy victory. If they didn't address these problems soon, their planned counterattack would be marked as the shortest offensive in the history of warfare.

Faldio, looking at the map of Randgriz, seemed irritated that it was devoid of any markings to show the terms of defenses that were there, spoke up and said "The more I look at this, the more frustrating it seems. Knowing what the other side is doing is half the battle. And to be hones I think it would calm us down a lot if we knew just what Lelouch was up to."

"I agree. If we're going to fight this battle. We need to know just how in depth Lelouch's defenses are going to be," said Welkin in agreement. Welkin was well aware that Lelouch knows full well that they'll be heading for Randgriz, having no doubt anticipated it when he seized control of the city. So it was safe to assume that Lelouch was going to use all his knowledge on warfare to make his defenses seem almost impenetrable.

Lucina chimed in with some news that might have helped out. She said "I think I'll be able to help out there. I have a few good men who are good at sneaking into places that they never have any business being in. I can have them go into Randgriz and mingle among the people there. They can stay unseen and move through the buildings so that they can get a good look at the German defenses and tell us what's happening."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up there. How are they even going to get into the city? Lelouch has probably got that placed locked down tighter than Fort Knox. They'll be caught before they even get through the front door," said Jack, a little worried that this plan of hers wasn't going ti end very well considering that as he knows Lelouch best, he probably has the city locked down to avoid enemy agents entering it.

"My men don't enter the front door. Usually we end up going through the back door. And that's precisely what I plan for my men to do here," explained Lucina, correcting Jack's assessment.

"Does Randgriz even have some kind of back door?" inquired a curious Alicia.

Isabella, pondering for a moment, was the first to answer as she said "I think so. Maybe Lucina's people could use the Randgriz catacombs to get their way around the city."

"Catacombs? The city has catacombs?" asked a bewildered Jack. That was the first time that he had ever heard of Randgriz ever having any sort of system of catacombs running underneath the city.

"Yeah. I learned about them when I was a kid. They were built in Roman times and were retrofitted and expanded as time went on and as the city expanded. When I was a kid I used to explore them, though I ended up getting lost a few times. It's easy to get turned around in there if you don't know where you're going. I know an entrance where her people can get into them. However, without a map I doubt you're going to get anywhere," said Mary, explaining them to Jack and even drawing from her own personal experiences.

"I think I can help you out with the map. I read a lot of books back at the academy and more than a few on Randgriz on Roman times. I can draw up a map for them," said Faldio, offering his help in the matter.

"You can draw up a map on the entire catacomb system from memory?" asked Largo, raising an eyebrow at how skeptical he was at what he just heard.

"He's got a bloody photographic memory. One time I bet him that he couldn't draw the entire United States after taking only five minutes to look at a map," commented Jack.

"I take it then that you lost that bet?" inquired Rosie.

"Yeah, along with about twenty Ducats. And speaking of which," said Jack, looking to Alicia as he was reminded of the bet that they made back at Vasel in which she still hadn't paid him back yet. He was giving her a look that read plain as day 'I'd like my money now'. Alicia, merely rolled her eyes and groaned in annoyance as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bag filled with enough Ducats to pay off Jack which she put into his hand. As Jack placed the small pouch into his pocket, Alicia was hoping that this would be the very last that she would have to hear of this ever again.

Welkin, deciding to bring them back to the matters at hand, spoke next by saying next "Okay well we need to figure out on training our soldiers here. Half the troops here belong to the Gallian Militia, and a lot of them are new recruits who aren't even armed or trained for urban warfare. We need to train as many of them as we can in the small amount of time that we have."

"A lot of these guys are old enough to be Great War veterans. We had a lot of fighting in cities during the war as well as in the trenches. I can round them up and have them help out. There's bound to be a lot of them in this camp," suggested Largo, thinking that the Militia veterans from the Great War could use their experience to train the more raw recruits. At least this way they might be able to train a lot of troops, though the time to train them is short indeed.

And as for arming them, Jack spoke next by saying "I'll go over what we have and hand it out to those who don't have anything. Just hope these guys know how to use them."

"Oh don't worry, they know. We're Gallians remember? We all know how to handle guns," pointed out Mary Read.

"We still have a bunch of other supplies we have to work on distributing as well. What do we do about the extra armored plates? There more of it than we need to equip the Militia with," noted Isabella. The best that they could do with all that armored plating was to melt it down for scrap and use it to make extra ammunition or helmets for the army. However, Welkin had another idea for them, and one that had more practical use than just melting them down.

"Actually I was thinking of having the Regulars equipped with them. Might increase your odds for survival," commented Welkin.

"Wait a minute, you want us to actually wear that 'bucket armor' in the fight? Are you serious?" asked one of the Regular officers, who among with the rest were seemingly opposed to Welkin's idea. The Regulars had always had the Gallian Militia wear armored plates for protection in order to increase their usefulness as cannon fodder or as distractions for the enemy in order to soften up their defenses. This was because the commanders of the Regular Army thought that there was no honor in using them in terms of modern warfare, sending their troops out with only their uniforms and helmets to protect them from enemy bullets and shrapnel. However, this resulted in them being treated for more serious injuries instead of the Militia who mostly just got killed and had less injuries than the Regulars did. But if they were going to stand any chance against the Germans, then they would need every advantage that they could get. And if having all their forces wearing plate armor will keep them alive longer on the battlefield, then so be it.

"Look, I get that you don't like the idea but we need you all to stay alive as you can during this battle. This armor is just a way of doing just that," explained Welkin, trying to calm them all down. However, this didn't seem to work as all of them started complaining all at once about this. Welkin could only pinch his brow in frustration at this before he heard someone give a high pitched whistle that shut the Regular officers up quite quickly.

Welkin looked to see that it was Isabella that got them all to shut up, giving them an irritated look before saying to them sternly "You'll do what he says and like it. Otherwise you can pack up and leave. Am I clear?"

Without even trying to resist, they all seemed to crack under Isabella's icy glare before giving silent nods as their answers. With the Regulars now firmly under Isabella's control, they shouldn't be a problem for now. And with that out of the way, Welkin finished the meeting, since they seemed to cover all that they needed to do at this point. If any other issues arose, they'd handle it accordingly. So with the meeting ending, the officers got out of the tent and went to ready the troops for what came ahead. Isabella and Welkin were the last to leave, but before she could leave, Welkin stopped her to ask a certain question that's been bugging him for a while. He asked her "Why are this okay with me being in charge?"

"Pardon?" inquired Isabella, not sure why he's asking this all of a sudden.

"You're the highest ranking person here now. Shouldn't you be in charge of all this?" asked Welkin, pointing out the fact that Isabella outranked him which supposedly gave her more authority. And considering that she was Damon's own flesh and blood, and given his personality as a whole, he would have expected her to assert herself as the commander of this army by now.

"Because I couldn't have been able to accomplish half the things you've done. You've beaten the Germans every step of the road, and now you're rallying one of the biggest armies Gallia's ever seen. Plus when people look at my last name they only see that I'm related to my father. And trust me, a lot of people in every class of Gallia hates his guts. Besides, your family has a certain history of saving Gallia in times your need. Your ancestor saved Gallia when we kicked the Nazis out of our homes a hundred years ago, your father kept the Germans at bay in the Great War, and now it seems you're destined to save the country again. I figure that if we have any shot of taking Randgriz back, you're the kind of person we need leading the charge, not me," explained Isabella with a sense of understanding in her voice that showed just how much of a complete opposite she was from her father, General Damon. It seemed that she was putting all of her faith, and that of every soldier and militiaman in this army into Welkin's hands. Not a very comforting thought when one considers what they were up against, but it was an honest and fair thought to be sure.

"You're okay with me being in charge because of your blind faith that I'll win like my father did?" inquired Welkin, wondering if he managed to understand all of what she said correctly.

Isabella only chuckled before answering with a smile "That, yes. And I also see something in you that might get us through this: luck."

She exited the tent, leaving Welkin to ponder as to her last words for a moment there. Whe he realized what she meant by that, he actually smiled a bit before heading out of the tent as well, heading off to find his squad and prepare them for war.

* * *

_Meanwhile, Back at Occupied Randgriz_

_"As we were preparing for our attack, Lelouch was getting ready for our arrival as well. After he had heard Welkin's speech on the radio, he wasted no time preparing his defenses and had his soldiers working even then to make sure that the Gallians wouldn't be able to get close to Castle Randgriz. Every block was fortified, and every street was covered. Lelouch wasn't going to take any chances. I wasn't there but I figured Lelouch had a certain look in his eye that I had seen before: the look he gave when he was set on winning, no matter what it took." - Jack Lawrence_

The city was abuzz with activity, even though it was night and the civilians were kept under close watch in the refugee camps and the subway tunnels. The Germans were going to keep them there until the inevitable battle with the Gallian forces would take place, forcing Lelouch to put the civilians back in the subway tunnels for their own safety. The Germans were taking every precaution in order to turn this city into a fortress. They had set up checkpoints and barricades at every entrance to the city, effectively making sure that no one would be able to enter or leave without authorization. They then got to work fortifying the city for urban warfare.

In certain locations, they heavily fortified buildings that were deemed to be significant to the city and to the Gallians when they would arrive. Essentially the Germans turned them into mini fortresses inside of the much larger fortress they were making out of the city. These buildings included the Gallian Parliament building, the headquarters of the Randgriz Police Department, the University of Randgriz, and many other important buildings. They had machine guns positioned near the windows, barbed wire and tank traps covering major entry ways as well as trenches being dug into the road for the German infantry to take cover in. They also placed tanks in fortified positions, having sandbags placed around them as well as having Pak-40 anti-tank cannons placed on the ground floor near areas of the wall that had been torn down by the shelling and air raids.

The Germans placed snipers and anti-aircraft cannons on the ruins of the highest buildings, creating flak towers to knock out any pesky Gallian fighters if they showed up. To help secure his dominance in the air, Lelouch kept only one of the War Zeppelins he used to capture Randgriz, with the other two having been sent back to Germania for use on their border with Russia as added security. Lelouch was also having several squadrons of fighters to be brought in to use the Randgriz International Airport, still in working condition, as a base of operations, with one of the squadrons being the elite squadron under the command of Emilia von Richthofen herself. And he also decided place valuable munitions, armored vehicles, and more in protected depots placed within the protection of the fortified buildings.

Lelouch was given a company of Teutonic Knights to act as his and Kallen's personal Honor Guards, with the Knights in charge of the security of the castle as they had the _Wehrmacht_ place AA cannons on it as well as machine guns on the ramparts as well as creating an barricade of his own design that ran along the entire perimeter of the castle that would be used as a last line of defense. Lelouch also brought in more soldiers to help defend the city, bringing the total number of German troops in Randgriz to about a hundred thousand soldiers in all with another fifty thousand on their way as reinforcements. It was quite an impressive number of troops. Add in the amount of Panzers, artillery guns, and fighter planes being brought in to land and operate out of Randgriz Airfield, Lelouch had a force capable of crushing the last remnants of Gallian resistance.

And as the Germans continued to fortify the city, Lelouch and Kallen stood on the ramparts of the city walls with their associates as well as with other Captains and Majors in charge of the various units within the city and surveyed their current progress. So far it was going very well, and at their current pace they would have the defenses finished days before Welkin could rally a force large enough to mount a massive assault on the city.

"My Lord, everything is proceeding as planned. The Gallians defeat will be certain when they arrive," praised one of the German Captains, approving the designs of the cities fortifications.

"Only fools are ever certain of victory Captain. In every battle I've fought, I always knew that there is always a chance for my opponent to be able to defeat me. If one thinks that their victory is certain, than one can use that confidence against them. Remember that Captain," said Lelouch, explaining the flaw in the young Captain's logic.

The Captain merely bowed his head before replying back with "Yes. My Lord."

"The city is becoming one giant fortress. Maybe the biggest one in all of Europa," commented Lightning as she looked upon the scope of the defenses being constructed across the city.

"You'd think Byzantium would trust you enough to leave it in your command. Why is he keeping Himmler and Goebbels here?" inquired Isaac, wondering why two important figures in Byzantium's government had not left like the rest of those who had come to attend Lelouch and Kallen'c coronation as Archduke and Archduchess of Gallia. Lelouch knew the answer, though he wasn't really happy about it. According to Byzantium, though he believed that Lelouch was quite capable of cementing his rule over Gallia, he felt that the young Prince would need some help. So he had two key associates in his power base stay behind to help stabilize Lelouch's rule upon the final defeat of the Gallian forces while he went to Ghirlandaio with Maximilian in order to oversee the changes they would make to this land when the war was finally over. Goebbels would be in charge of rounding up any known dissidents still left in Randgriz and locking them away in the vast dungeons of Castle Randgriz, while Himmler was placed as the temporary commander of the Rexist forces in the city as he would have them sent against anyone seeking to oppose German rule through armed resistance. They were tasked mainly to assist Lelouch, and ordered to retreat alongside him if the Gallians managed to retake their city.

"My brother believes that I need to be monitored. That my position is unstable," said Lelouch, answering Isaac's question, with a hint of annoyance present in his voice for he despises that Byzantium had to send those two to keep him in check.

"That's a lot of troops down there Lelouch. Don't you think maybe this is a little overkill?" asked Kallen, wondering if they really needed all of these troops.

"I have no doubt that this army Gunther is gathering is going to be much larger than just a few thousand Gallians with some rifles and outmatched tanks. And I like being prepared for whatever comes next. This battle is going to determine the outcome for all of Gallia. Whether we win or we lose, this battle will go down in history," said Lelouch before leaving for the stairs in the fortress walls that lead back to ground level as he's escorted by two Teutonic Knights. He was dead set on defeating Welkin Gunther and his family once and for all. And if by bringing an entire army to Randgriz was the key to that, then so be it. One way or another, only one of them was going to win this battle. Either the war was going to end with another victory for Lelouch, or it would end with the Gallians vigor and hope renewed with a stunning victory.

As he exited at the bottom he was met by a Sergeant who is a Shocktrooper in the Rexist Militia. Since they were formed out of Gallians who volunteered for the German military, and were armed with mostly Gallian firearms, they used the Gallian Class system to help better organize their infantry forces. This soldier wore a grey overcoat over his uniform with a German infantry cap from the Great War on his head and was armed with a Mags-M4 sub-machine gun, as well as wearing extra ammo pouches and a sheathed cutlass for close quarters combat. As Lelouch exited the staircase that lead his down from the ramparts, the soldier gave a quick salute before saying to Lelouch "Your Majesty, Colonel Degrelles wants to know what the Rexists can do for this battle."

Lelouch noted how the Rexists were calling him, 'Your Majesty' instead of 'Your Highness' as it was customary for a Prince in a Royal Family. It was probably due to the fact that they had replaced the Randgriz Royal Family with the vi Britannia branch of the Nazi Royal Family and made it like this for distinction. Either way, it also meant that politician and journalist turned German Colonel Léon Degrelle and his entire Rexist Militia now saw him as the ruler of Gallia, next to his brother the Kaiser of course and decided to treat him as the county's new ruler. And ever since preparations began to fortify this city, he's been annoying Lelouch for what kind of role the ten thousand Rexists would play in this battle as he didn't want them to go through the whole battle without participating in the fighting.

"Tell Degrelle what I told him yesterday: I will give him and his men a spot to defend as soon as I can figure out where your troops can be most effective," said Lelouch, answering the same thing that he had told Léon every time the man asked.

The Rexist Sergeant replied with "But My Lord, Colonel Degrelle is asking for an answer _now_. He wants to be a part of the fight and so do the men."

Lelouch let out a sigh as he stopped and tried to figure out a way to answer this question effectively so that he didn't have to hear it anymore. After a few moments of pondering, he managed to come up with a pretty good idea as to where he would put them. If Léon wanted his men to be a part of the most pivotal battle of the war so far, than Lelouch was going to give him what he wanted. And he knew just the few places where he can put them. He looked to the Sergeant and told him "Okay well I'll give you this. I need men manning the barricade at the castle as well as the Parliament building and the depots. Also...you'll be in charge of guarding the train station next to the city wall."

"Understood sir...but uh, why are we going to be at the train station there? Isn't the main station in the center of the city more easy to defend?" asked the Rexist Sergeant, not sure why they would be stationed there instead of Imperial Station which is much larger and was the central hub for the trains and trolleys in Randgriz.

Lelouch took a step towards, him getting into his face before replying "The Imperial Station has been abandoned since the war started. It's neither strategic nor is it worth the while defending. The Randgriz Station near the castle wall hold some significance. It's where Gunther and his crew left for the Ardennes, and where they're going to be next. Cause that is where they're likely going to enter the city from. And when they come in there, then you'll be waiting for them. And when you see them, I want you, and Degrelle's little army, to stop them. Am I understood?"

The Rexist Sergeant gave him a salute and a nod indicating that he understood him completely. He then ran back to Degrelle to tell him the news. Lelouch could only sigh at this and return to supervising the construction of the German defenses. With Degrelle now silenced and his needs finally met, Lelouch could focus on the remaining defenses that would be needed to be built. It was more important for him to make sure his troops were ready to face the remnants of the Gallian Army, not to deal with Degrelle and his little traitorous band. Lelouch had little patience for those people who would willingly betray their people and their country just to advance or better themselves by serving the Nazi regime. He didn't think that it was likely nor possible that Degrelle and his men could stop the Gallians at the wall. He expected that the Rexists stationed there would be more or less gunned down. And he was hoping for that to happen. Cause to him, traitors tend to get their just rewards one way or another.

* * *

_Ghirlandaio Fortress Command Room_

In the command room of Ghirlandaio, Byzantium sat at the large desk as he looked over papers and documents sent to him via his Chancellor in New Berlin. Since Byzantium had decided to stay at Ghirlandaio for the duration of the rest of the conflict until Lelouch defeated the remnants of the Gallian military that were gathering for one last fight to retake the capital. Unfortunately, it didn't mean that he would be able to avoid the tedious paperwork that came with his position. Despite the fact that the Chancellor and Byzantium's brother Schniezel did most of this, Byzantium still had some things that he had to do such as sign off on several new laws and stuff. Despite the many comforts that came with being the Kaiser of the Imperial Germanian Reich, there were still a few duties that irritated him as well.

As he was just about finishing the last few documents, he was surprised by a visit from Jaeger and Gregor who came into the room and gave a quick bow before Gregor spoke first, saying "Your Majesty, we have some news you may wish to hear."

Byzantium was in no mood to do anymore work today, but considering that he had already finished, he supposed that he could indulge these two Generals and listen to what news that had for him. So once he put the paperwork away, he looked to the two and said "Very well. Proceed."

"We've received work from Prince Lelouch. His troops are fortifying the city and by his estimates, his forces outnumber Lieutenant Gunther's growing army. He believes that Gunther and his men will set out to retake the city by the end of the week," informed Jaeger, taking a seat and leaning back as he spoke. Of course, he did leave out the part where that Welkin did announce where the Gallians were gathering and how Lelouch decided to not use the _Luftwaffe_ to bomb the Gallian military into submission. Gregor for one was the first to call out how foolish it seemed.

"But with respect your Grace, I believe that not sending our bombers to crush them may not have been a wise move. If we had done so, it would have provided us a quick victory," said Gregor, explaining his point of view on the matter.

"My brother is not the one who leaves victory in the hands of others. He prefers defeating them by using his own wits instead of simply using shortcuts. It's served him well thus far. My brother knows what he's doing so I suggest you have a little faith in him Gregor. He will end this, I am sure of it," said Byzantium, having the utmost faith in the abilities of his brother, the Black Prince and Demon of Germania. Lelouch had defeated every foe that had tried to oppose him, so Byzantium didn't see any reason why he should doubt that Lelouch shouldn't be able to win now. However, it seemed that there was another problem he was going to have, Maximilian. Maximilian and Byzantium never did see eye to eye on many things. Byzantium initially promised Maximilian that he would become the Viceroy of Gallia but had changed his mind once the offensive stalled and Lelouch managed to fix things. That didn't sit well with Maximilian who took some of the elite troops in Gallia and began preparing for an expedition into the German occupied Barious Desert as part of some project that he was working on.

"I hear that Prince Maximilian and Selvaria are heading to the Barious. Do you know what that's all about Your Majesty?" inquired Jaeger, curious if Byzantium knew about this 'project'.

"Well he brought Selvaria with him so no doubt it has something to do with the Valkyrur," said Byzantium.

"Hmph. His Highness places too much stock in the Valkyrur. What good will these old tales of warriors do for us?" criticized Gregor, not believing in Maximilian's fascination with old myths and legends. He couldn't understand why Maximilain would think that these 'Children of God' could be any better fighters than that of the German war machine.

"I can understand the fascination though. The power of the Valkyrur is enough to conquer all of Europa. Perhaps the world as well," said Jaeger, noting how the Valkyrur's legendary powers could prove useful.

"I assure you the Reich's military is more than capable of conquering Europa on it's own Jaeger," grumbled Gregor, as he eyed Jaeger with his cold eyes.

Byzantium gestured with his hand and announced "That's enough you two. While Lelouch is working his magic I have tasks for both of you. Jaeger, you will head to Aachen and coordinate with Grand Marshal Rommel to try and deal with the insurgents operating in the Barious."

"Working with the Desert Fox himself huh? That'll be an honor," said Jaeger, eagerly looking forward to working with the Grand Marshal on this.

Byzantium then looked to Gregor to give him his orders. He said "As for you Gregor, you're going to Fouzen and set up a command center there. From there you'll oversee the factories and strengthen our holdings in the north."

Giving a bow, Gregor responded with zeal "I understand my lord. I shall not fail you."

"Very well. I believe our business here has ended," said Byzantium, eager to get to bed. He got up from his desk and headed towards the door as Gregor left as well. Just as Byzantium was about to leave, he noticed that Jaeger was still there, now standing instead of sitting. It didn't take long for Byzantium to figure that there was something that he wasn't telling him, and whatever this news was it was probably important. Letting out a deep sigh as he closed the partially opened door and walked over to Jaeger before sporting an irritated look on his face which even though the helmet covering his face one could tell it said 'spit it out would you'.

Jaeger wasted no time explaining "We've heard from our agent in Dublin. Apparently the British, the French, the Americans, and the Russians have been talking. They're starting to assemble some kind of force."

"What do you mean by 'some kind of force' Jaeger? Answer me," said Byzantium, not liking where this was going and was getting a little irritated at the news. A combined military force from four major powers could spell disastrous news for Byzantium's plans. The only reason these nations would combine their forces, it meant that they were going to take action against Germania.

"From what we can tell they're beginning to gather ships, troops, planes, everything. As to where, we don't know. The agent couldn't find out the location," explained Jaeger, which didn't help Byzantium in the slightest. Byzantium had enough problems to deal with without having four major powers rallying against them. Now they didn't know where they were gathering this army and they didn't know for what reason. All that he can tell at this point was that things were about to get a whole lot more complicated really fast.

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	93. Tensions Run High

**Sorry for the delay here people. I've been busy lately with mid terms here at collage and other things. Just thought I'd let you all know that. Other than that, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes only.)_

_April 26, 1935_

_Amaranthine Forest_

_Late Morning_

The next day, as more recruits still came to the forest, Welkin had the training for the Militiamen for combat in urban warfare begin. To say that this wasn't going to be easy was an understatement. These weren't battle hardened and experienced soldiers like those of the German Army. These were raw recruits who had little experience and their training was less than that of the Regular Army, with their training consisting of military classes during their school years. Add to the fact that the few that were experienced were all Great War veterans with most being younger and inexperienced, it meant that a large majority of their forces needed to be trained for urban combat if they were going to stand a chance of survival. So if they were going to win this battle, then they were going to need to learn the ropes of this kind of warfare as quickly as they could. And they needed experienced soldiers training them for this, which is where Largo and Jack came in.

Jack and Largo were in a section of the camp where they had gathered about fifteen Militia volunteers consisting of all five Gallian Infantry classes with three coming from each to total fifteen. In front of these recruits was a mock up of a building floor made out of plywood. They had also added desks and chairs from the nearby abandoned towns to help provide some realism as well. Jack and Largo were going to use this in part of a scenario that these soldiers may find themselves in when they come to Randgriz. Jack and Largo, with their experiences, looked at these raw recruits in front of them and in their minds they figured that this was going to be hard. Many of these recruits seemed so green that they probably have never seen a battle before. Which meant that when they faced the Germans in Randgriz, it would be their baptism of fire. So they had to make sure that this training stuck with them and that these recruits put it to good use.

To help with the training, they managed to round up certain things to help with training. They managed to find a few boxes of training ammo from one of the Town Watch armories in the abandoned towns to help with this scenario. These bullets were created out of a much softer material such as rubber so that they weren't able to penetrate skin when fired from a gun, only able to cause bruises or welts. However, if it hits the eye or goes in through the mouth then it could cause an injury that would need immediate medical attention. This in turn caused instructors to remind their students to be more careful in training drills and matches instead of when they enter real combat. And since they needed live ammunition for the battle, they would be using these training bullets to try and save resources. To act as the enemy, they had some members of the Militia who had some experience in this war as well as veterans from the Great War inside armed and loaded with these same training bullets. They would play the part as the German defenders trying to keep the Militia out of a fortified building. Hopefully these recruits would be able to make their way through this and pass...more or less.

"Alright, listen up lads. Today we're gonna teach you how to clear a building floor. When this army enters Randgriz, you're gonna have to clear out every building in our way until we drive the Germans out of the city. In order to do so, you're going to need to pay attention to what we teach you here," said Largo, explaining the significance in learning this course.

Jack spoke up next, explaining "Militia soldiers are inside and they'll be playing the part of the German soldiers that you need to eliminate. We've loaded your weapons with training rounds so you'll knock them down but they won't be out for the count. We need you all in fighting shape."

"So for now we're going to have a little dry run here. Five of you will go in first as a little test to show what you can do and how well you perform in this," said Largo. They take five Militiamen at random and handed them each either a Gallian-M4 rifle or a Mags-M4 sub-machine gun and simply gestured for them to enter the makeshift building where the mock German soldiers were waiting for them. Their inexperience kicking in, the group walked toward the structure with their weapons at the ready, not even stopping to check any of the adjacent rooms as they entered the marked hallway. They passed through the first few cut out doors before getting hit repeatedly by the training bullets fired by the Gallian Militiamen lying in wait for them behind the furniture, corners, and even by some of the door frames. They were hit in the chest, back, arms, and legs as they were pelted mercilessly with these rubber bullets. In a matter of seconds they had entered the building and were 'killed' by the enemy troops.

The five Militiamen that were sent in came stumbling back out groaning in pain as they gripped the various parts of their bodies that were in pain from the training bullets that were fired at them. They all made it out of the building and quickly fell onto the ground as they groaned in pain out loud. Largo pinched his brow and shook his head, clearly disappointed in what he had just seen. Even when he was in training back at the onset of the Great War, the recruits didn't fail _nearly _as bad as what he had just seen. It was now clear to him that these recruits were going to need more training than he originally thought...and perhaps a lot more luck when they get to Randgriz.

Jack, walked up to the recruits and one by one got them back on their feet while saying to each one "You're dead. You're dead. Dead. Dead. Really, really, dead. I don't know what was going through your heads but clearing a building of enemy soldiers isn't as easy as just walking through the door and hoping that the enemy is standing right in front of you."

They then heard a whole bunch of laughter and chuckling and all heads turned to see a group of several Regulars in their combat gear, wearing Gallian _Stahlhelms_, and now wearing armor for each of their classes but have been repainted to the colors of the Gallian Regulars. They had apparently been standing on the sidelines and watching the Gallian Militiamen training...but more like watching them fail as miserably as one can. These Regulars were nothing more than just a bunch of smug rich kids who thought that with all their training and weaponry that they were superior than the soldiers belonging to the Gallian Militia. Even though in most cases, professional armies were better than those of irregular armies such as militias, the Gallian Regulars had been getting their asses kicked by the German military since day one of this entire war. And even with all their losses and Gallia's freedom still hanging by a thread, they were still feeling smug about themselves.

"You see? This is why the Militia would never amount to anything!" said one of the Regulars as his friends continued to laugh. The Militia whom had just run the test seemed to take offense to that as their expressions changed drastically and their faces turned red with the anger swelling up inside of them. The five of them immediately marched off to confront the Regulars before Jack and Largo could do anything to prevent it from happening. All that the two could do was stop the other ten Militiamen from doing the same thing before heading to where the two groups were meeting to try and avoid a physical confrontation. They arrived just in time as the Militia and Regular troops were about to come to blows.

"You got something you want to say to me, rich kid?" asked one of the Militia soldiers, clearly upset.

The Regular merely looked back, his smug look still on his face as he answered back with "Why don't you just move aside, let the professionals handle this? We'll win the war for you."

"Oh well that's rich. Especially coming from someone who's never fought in his damn life," said the Militiaman in an especially harsh and angry tone.

Jack, who with Largo was standing beside the two groups alongside Largo, looked up at him and asked in a whisper "This isn't going to end well is it?"

The look that Largo gave him back pretty much signaled to the American as a 'yes'. Back with the argument, it was the Regular's turn as he pointed out to the Militia "You lot can't even hold a training session without flopping through it! I mean considering what just happened, you lot wouldn't last five minutes against the krauts with the fighting skills you have."

"I...hate to say that he's right but he does have a point there," said Jack who wanted to say differently but couldn't because that would have been a flat out lie considering what he had just seen. And at the time he was looking at Largo with look upon his face that said 'I can't believe that I actually said that'. He didn't really like the fact that he was agreeing with the stuck up Regulars but the sad truth was that the point he made was valid. Given how badly this training session went, it was safe to say that these Militia recruits were completely unprepared for what they would go up against once the fighting started. But even so, it still didn't justify the Regulars to just rub it in their faces at every chance they got.

However, Largo looked down on him with a disgruntled look on his face. Figuring out what he probably wanted him to do next, Jack said this as he walked away "Fine, fine. I'll go get find some help. Maybe find Damon's daughter. You keep these guys from starting their own little war or whatever this whole thing is."

"And what? You supposedly could do any better? You've been running away like cowards with their tails in between their legs ever since this whole damn war started. And whenever you actually do attack, you send us out first to die while you just stroll in thinking we've done some damage when in fact we've done nothing because we got cut to pieces! And in case you haven't noticed, your Major isn't in charge here. Lieutenant Gunther is. And if I remember correctly, he and unit have more fights than you," barked back the Militiaman, countering the Regular's claim quite well. Now it was the Militia's turn to be right. Squad 7 had a better record than most units in the Regular Army in this war, even though they haven't been fighting this war since the very beginning. This alone proved that the Regular Army was inadequate to fight off the Germans alone, no different than the Militia...though both sides didn't seem to stop and notice that at the present time.

"Why should we take orders from someone like him? He's not even in the Regular Army. He chose to be in the Militia. Militia grunts aren't fit to be in command of any army and you know it," said the Regular, in disgust in having to take orders from some Lieutenant instead of someone of higher rank like that of Major Isabella von Damon. Apparently there were those in the Gallian Regulars that actually liked Damon. No doubt it was just that he was an important person in the Gallian aristocracy. It wasn't that he was a brilliant strategist (which he was not in the slightest), or that he was a good leader (of which he was far from being called a good leader in any other army), it was only because he was higher up on the social class and had more money than those who volunteered in the Militia. Never mind the fact that the man had pretty much run the whole Gallian war effort straight into the ground, because for some reason they still held faith that _their_ higher ups, the ones who most achieved their status through family connections, and were probably some of the worst military commanders on this side of the continent.

However, it seemed like the Regular had taken things a little too far with his last comment, as the Militia grunt, now having lost his temper, pulled back his arm and hit the Regular with a haymaker punch. The sheer force of the punch caused the Regular to stumble backwards towards his group with the Militiaman closing it and continuing to punch him out of anger. Both the Regulars and the Militia quickly rushed in to try and pull the two apart and stop the fight. Largo joined in a second after them and grabbed the two by the collars of their uniforms and by using his superior strength pulled these two off of each other and kept the two apart from each other as Jack returned with Major Isabella in tow, and she did not look happy with what she was seeing.

"What in the world is wrong with you people?!" cried out the Major as she stomped over to them, causing everyone assembled to look to her and the vilified expression upon her face which served to help cause the Gallian soldiers, excluding Largo, to be both nervous and a little scared of her, despite her pretty face.

"You brought her here quickly Jack," noted Largo, still keeping the Militiaman and the Regular apart while also noting how quickly he brought Isabella here to help solve this problem.

"I didn't even have to walk that far actually. She was heading by this way and I walked right past her. I managed to get her to come here without having to drag here. I'm just glad she wasn't on the other end of the place. Otherwise this may have gotten a lot worse," said Jack, explaining how he managed to her to come here and mentioning that if it took him longer, it was possible that this whole situation may have turned into a full blown brawl between the Militia and the Regulars. However now they would have to face her wrath. And believe it or not she had a reputation of getting really angry when things like this happened.

"I'm going to ask you this once more, and once more only. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" demanded Isabella, shouting the last part in a tone that simply frightened the Gallians and caused them to take a step back in fright. Whatever they were going to say next, they would have to choose their words very carefully to respond to her question. Hopefully the answer wouldn't make her any more angry than she already was.

"Me and Jack were trying to train the Militia recruits so that they'd be ready to fight in Randgriz when the time came. Next thing I know, the Regulars showed up and everyone started flinging insults at each other. The Regulars said one to many insults, and then the fists started flying," said Largo, pretty much summing up everything that had happened in the past few minutes.

Looking to the Gallian Regulars, Isabella asked the bruised Gallian Regular "Is this true? And don't even think about lying to me soldier."

"Uh...well...I...yeah. Yeah that's...pretty much what happened. But Major, you should have seen what happened. They failed this completely. They're not fit to fight the Germans," answered the Gallian Regular as he tried to explain his actions to her and prove they were just in his own view.

Isabella however, didn't see things his way. Unlike her father, she actually saw the Militia as valuable soldiers instead of pawns or cannon fodder to simply throw at the Germans. To prove her point, she had an idea as to how she would do so. Grabbing a Mags-M4 loaded with training bullets from one of the Gallian Militiamen, she placed it into the Regulars hands before saying "So you think you can do better than them? Well then prove it. Run the course."

The Gallian Regular seemed hesitant at first to comply with Isabella's demands. In fact, he seemed almost nervous about the thought of running the course. However, it seemed like he quickly got over it and motioned for the rest of the Regulars with him to follow along. They did so, grabbing the weapons loaded with training rounds from the Gallians and making it to the starting position in front of the structure. Jack smirked to himself and thought 'this is gonna be good'. He figured that if the Militia had finished the course so terribly, he expected that the Regulars to fail as well...though not as poorly as the Militia did. He guessed that with their overconfident attitude, they would end up overlooking something that would result in the Militia troops inside to quickly take them down. This was no doubt going to be highly enjoyable to watch for the Militia troops as well, finally able to see the Regulars getting their asses handed to them for once.

The Regulars formed up into a single line and took position on either side of the entrance to the structure. After peeking around the corner and checking to see that the hallway was clear, the Regulars went in with their weapons at the ready. They moved slower than the Militia did so that they could check their surroundings and adjacent rooms better so that they wouldn't find themselves ambushed and wiped out quickly. As they passed by rooms adjacent to the hallway, they looked through the doorways to see any glimpse of a Gallian Militiaman playing the part of a German soldier. They only looked through the doorway as they walked by, not really looking any further into the room to make sure that it was secured. The Militia were hiding behind the walls and furniture to make it look like the rooms were clear, making sure that they stayed out of the Regulars line of sight.

The Regulars continued moving forward until they were all in the middle of the hall. Unbeknownst to them, one of the Gallian Militiamen in the farthest room began readying a training grenade to throw at the Regulars. Like the training bullets, these grenades were designed to not cause major physical injuries. However, these grenades weren't shaped like the Gallian or German stick grenades, but were shaped like the Mk 2 grenades used by the United States military. They were like the training rounds, as the cases were made of metal but they were loaded with small rubber pellets that shot out from small holes along the casing thanks to compressed air. This was triggered after a five second delay when the person handling it armed the grenade. Waiting until the Regulars were directly where they wanted them to be, the Militia soldier armed the grenade and tossed it down the hall.

The grenade clattered across the ground before finally stopping in the middle of the group of Regulars. The moment that they heard the clattering they looked and saw the grenade stop at their feet. They tried to get away but it was too late for them. The five second delay was up and the rubber pellets were shot out of the casing. The rubber balls either hit the Regulars directly or bounced off the walls and then hit the Regulars, sometimes multiple times, giving them just as much pain as that the Militia were inflicted. They collapsed on the group, groaning and writing on the ground as the pain seemed to be too much to bear. As they continued to groan in pain, they heard footsteps from several people coming towards them. The Regular that had lead them into doing this turned his head to look at who was coming. It turned out to be Largo, Jack, and Isabella, with smirks on their faces with what they've just seen.

"If this was supposed to impress me, I'd have to say you failed. At best, this was probably marginally better than the Militia could have done," said Isabella, tilting her head and crossing her arms in disappointment as she looked down upon the sorry lot lying before her.

"Hey, this isn't as easy as it looks," complained the Regular, as he slowly tried to get up.

"That's not what you were saying a few minutes ago," commented Largo, pulling out a cigarette from his pack, putting it in his mouth and lighting it up with his lighter.

Getting back up on his feet, the Regular could only look at him and say in return "I doubt even the American army had it any better."

"In _my_ army, they teach you this before they actually send you into the fight. If they had sent you guys against the Russians back then, you would have been cut to pieces in a matter of seconds," said Jack, with a nod of disapproval over the Regulars bad performance.

"And since you guys seem to be in the same level of preparedness as the Militia, I'm going to make the Regulars do the exact same training here as them. Now get up off your asses and get ready to do this again, or the next bullet that hits you is going to be a real one," said Isabella, placing her hands on her hips and threatening the Regulars to train alongside the Militia. The Regulars could only groan in unison to complain about their situation without even making the slightest effort in getting up. However, when they saw the evil glare coming from Isabella, they were instantly frightened. They scrambled to get back up on their feet and fled instantly outside the structure to prepare to run the course again.

As they all left, Largo commented at this with "We sure got a lot of work to do."

"That would be an understatement," added Jack.

* * *

_Later, at the Command Tent_

In the command tent, Welkin was listening to Rosie describe the various problems they were having at the moment with building up their army. Ever since this whole thing started they had been working around the clock to try and get everything prepared, and it was beginning to take it's toll on Welkin as he was the one working more than anyone else. By now he was looking rather...disheveled. He had unbuttoned his uniform, his hair was a little messy, and bags were beginning to appear under his eyes. At his desk were mounds of paperwork that the Regulars, not wanting to do any of it, shoved it to him so that Welkin would do it instead. Doing this alone kept Welkin up for most of the night. With everyone now counting on Welkin to lead this rag tag army to try and retake the capital, he could feel the weight of the world being placed on his shoulders and the pressure was immense.

At this moment he wondered if this is what his father felt back in the Great War, or his ancestor Victoria Gunther during the Gallian War for Independence. Either way, the pressure that was placed upon him made him start to crack under the expectations of what others were hoping. They were expecting him to be the figure that leads them all to victory like the heroes of legend. But Welkin wasn't that kind of person. He would never be one nor did he ever want to be like them. Even so, the pressure was starting to get to him as he tried to keep up with everything. And it seemed to be getting greater and greater as Rosie kept on telling him what problems they were facing.

"We're still having problems with the gear. We don't have enough ammo belts, helmets, or other things to arm everyone," said Rosie, reading off list on a piece of paper detailing the recent problems with the army that people have noticed.

Welkin could only groan and sink into his seat, running his hand through his hair out of frustration. Things just seemed to be getting worse and worse as the day progressed. Thinking of how it was possible to try and solve this, his mind was rattling for some way to fix this. Rubbing his forehead in absolute exhaustion, he finally managed to say "Ask those who are wiling to fight without a helmet and give weapons and such to those who are willing to fight on the front line without panicking in the process. Have those that are still training try to work with what we have and see if you can salvage whatever they could find."

Tilting her head, Rosie looked at Welkin and responded with "Uh, are you sure boss? I don't think the recruits are going to take that well. And that's considering what we're going up against."

"Then ask only those who are _willing_ to do so," said Welkin, gritting his teeth all the while in frustration, which slightly unnerved Rosie before Welkin looked at their current logistics and continued with "And see if there's anything that we can use as substitutes for helmets like some kind of camouflaged field caps or something."

Letting out a sigh, Rosie replied with "Okay, I can do that. But we still have some other problems, like our lack of any decent tanks. Aside from the tank destroyers we've got, we don't have many tanks that can take on a German Panzer in a one on one fight and win."

"Okay well...uh...see if you can add some more training regimes to the Lancers. Maybe take a few grenades and bundle them up so it can be some kind of improvised Anti-tank device at best," suggested Welkin, remembering how they used similar grenades to combat German tanks in the Great War. It wouldn't do much use against modern day tanks unless they hit the Ragnite radiators or the tank engines. At best it could leave a big dent in the tank's armor if thrown at the front or side armor.

Scratching her head a bit, Rosie relented and said "Okay then. I'll pass on the word I suppose."

"Anything else you need to tell me?" asked Welkin, hoping that there couldn't possibly be anymore problems to deal with today. However, his hopes were about to be dashed.

With some hesitation, Rosie rubbed the back of her head before admitting "Well, Largo and Jack are apparently having some trouble with the training. The guys they're training aren't exactly fast learners and the Regulars insulting them aren't helping. There was a bit of a fight between them a little while ago. It's starting to interfere with the training."

Welkin could only groan in annoyance at this latest development. Even with everything at stake and Gallia's fate hanging by a thread, the Regulars and the Militia couldn't set aside their differences for five minutes so that they could concentrate on a common enemy. And even now, they were still arguing as to which branch of the army was better or had the more likely chance of beating the Black Prince or something. It seemed like the animosity between the two groups wasn't going to go away anytime soon, and their unwillingness to cooperate was simply giving Welkin another migraine which was added to the already several he's had since this whole thing started. Things just weren't going as smoothly as they thought it would be.

"Just how bad is all the arguing exactly?" inquired Welkin, burying his face in his hands.

"Isabella's keeping them in line. Looks like she inherited her father's ability to make people do what she wants them to do. Some fights are breaking out, but for the most part it's just a bunch of stares and mumbling," explained Rosie, with her voice hinting at a mixture of surprise and admiration at how Isabella has managed to bring the Regulars into line. She was surprised that Isabella's personality differed so much than that of her father as well as their methods. At least she was more agreeable than her father, as well as more reasonable.

Welkin sighed with relief, for at least Isabella was helping. Though he could imagine she had just as much trouble keeping the Regulars in line all the time. At least there was one bright spot out of all of this. With that in mind, Welkin stood up from his chair, looked to Rosie and said "Have Jack and Largo keep up with the training. If any more problems happen between the Militia and the Regulars, just get Isabella to help straighten them out."

"Alright boss, see ya then," replied Rosie as she gave a salute and then left the tent. When she was out of sight, Welkin, with the frustration he had been keeping pent up finally boiling over the surface, lost it and knocked a whole stack of paperwork of his desk before shouting out loud in frustration. It was loud enough that anyone within earshot of the command tent heard him and knew quite well that their commander was not in a pleasant mood, including Rosie who quickly turned her head around to look back at the command tent when she heard it. She knew then that it was probably best to keep her distance from Welkin until he had time to cool off.

* * *

At the vehicle depot, not far from the command tank, the Gallians had set up a makeshift depot to house their tanks, jeeps, and other vehicles. And the _Edelweiss_ was the one tank among the Gallian Light Tanks, Tank Destroyers, and even the _Theimer_ tanks that stood out completely, easily the most potent fighting vehicle in the entire Gallian arsenal. And as the engineers and mechanics that had assembled here got to work making sure that these vehicles were fit and ready to fight when the time came to march out for Rangdriz, Isara was among them as she worked non-stop to make sure the _Edelweiss_ was just as ready as ever to fight against the Panzers of the Nazi _Wehrmacht_. Thankfully, Alicia was with her, seated atop the _Edelweiss_, handing down tools to Isara though the turret hatch as she works on calibrating the controls to the main cannon.

"Just how long have you been working here Isara?" inquired Alicia, looking at Isara as she worked and was a little concerned for how long the girl had been working non-stop.

"Since dawn today. I didn't know what else to do so I figured that I'd get to work," answered Isara honestly, looking back at Alicia momentarily to answer before going back to work.

Alicia merely shook her head in disapproval before commenting "You know you're gonna run yourself ragged if you keep this up. Take a break, eat a sandwich. Heck, maybe take a nap. You can't work this hard all the time."

"Maybe you should tell the boss that Alicia. He's not exactly having a good day," said Rosie's voice. Alicia looked to see Rosie standing in front of the _Edelweiss_, her arms crossed and staring straight at Alicia with a look on her face that made Alicia somehow believe her when she said that something was probably wrong with Welkin, and that would be a surprise indeed. Welkin didn't strike her as someone who would normally have a bad day. The guy seemed so carefree that he probably never had a truly bad day in his life...well recently at least. He may be a bit odd...but she didn't think that Welkin would have even be capable of having a bad day.

Jumping down from the tank, Alicia hoped to get some answers out of Rosie on the issue. Starting light, she looked to Rosie and asked "Just what happened to Welkin exactly?"

"Everything. This whole 'building an army' thing is causing the boss a whole lot of problems. I think he's starting to crack from all the pressure," admitted Rosie in a blunt attitude, causing Alicia to blink in surprise. If Welkin of all people was starting to crack, then this was going to be bad news for a lot of people. Though Alicia was hoping that Rosie had misinterpreted Welkin's actions, she needed to be sure for herself. So without another word she walked off, heading to the command tent to see if he was okay, completely ignoring Rosie calling out her name to stop.

* * *

Alicia soon found the command tent and was about to go in but stopped out of hesitation. She wasn't sure that she should do so. In her mind she suddenly started coming up with various excuses as to why she should just turn around and walk away. Maybe Welkin was busy with his work or perhaps Rosie had exaggerated on what had happened? It was a possibility, but if it was in fact true, Alicia felt that she might as well have to do something to try and help Welkin. Despite how annoying and stubborn he could be at times, if he needed help getting through all of this, then that was something that Alicia was willing to help him with. Walking inside the command tent, she saw Welkin slumped at his desk with a mountain of paperwork in front of him. She was a little surprised at how disheveled and ragged he looked, it being the first time that she had ever seen him like this before. Out of concern for him, she asked sincerely "Uh, Welkin? Are...are you okay?"

Welkin was silent for a moment before he raised his head and saw Alicia standing in the tent and looking at just how ragged he was. Forcing a fake smile to try and hide that fact, he replied back to her "Don't worry Alicia, I'm fine."

"No offense but you are the worst liar I've ever met. And that's compared to Jack," said Alicia as she walked over to Welkin, closing the gap between the two, and not believing the words that just came out of Welkin's mouth.

Welkin tried to hold it in but eventually let out a sigh, dropped the facade, and admitted to her "I know. But it won't due us all any good if I looked like this now will it? It'll just bring the morale down a lot more."

"Well it won't do us any good if you work yourself to exhaustion," said Alicia, gesturing to Welkin's current look.

Standing up from his seat, Welkin pointed to the pile of paper on his desk and asked "Well then who's going to do all this? The Regulars aren't willing to do it so they shoved it all towards me to do."

"Well, I think I can help you out with this," said Alicia, grabbing a piece of paper and looking over the supply list written on it.

Welkin merely shook his head before countering Alicia with "Unless you know how to add up all the gear and supplies we have and manage to figure out how much each soldier in this army should get, then I suggest that you just let me handle this Alicia."

That comment made Alicia giggle for a moment before she looked to him and said calmly "I know how to do simple math Welkin. The bakery I used to be apprenticed to sent out a lot of deliveries."

"Well then help yourself, there's plenty to go around," said Welkin, pointing at one such pile, a foot high at least. And there were several more piles of it as well.

Placing a hand on his shoulder, Alicia tried to remind him "Welkin, you don't have to do all of this alone. We're all in this together remember?"

Taking her hand off of his shoulder, Welkin spoke again, his voice little more than a whisper, as he tried to explain to her "I know that Alicia. But I'm the guy that almost everyone in this army is going to rely on, that they look up to. I have to set an example for them."

"Well I doubt that you're going to set a good example by running yourself into the ground before the fighting starts," pointed out Alicia.

It was then that Welkin had finally lost it. He looked to Alicia completely frustrated and shouted out quickly "**Then what do you expect me to do?! I need to do everything I can to keep this whole thing going and the only people that seem to care about this is me, Faldio, and Isabella. Isabella has enough trouble just trying to keep the Regulars in line, Faldio keeps vanishing to God knows where to help with the scouts so that the Germans don't come at us guns blazing. So that means that the only one that has the ability to do any of this suddenly becomes me!**"

Alicia was honestly shocked by Welkin's reaction as her eyes widened in surprise. In all the time that they had known each other, Alicia had never seen this kind of reaction from him before. It was a little scary but it also made her more concerned for Welkin and how much farther down the rabbit hole he would go if she didn't help him out. And as she tried to figure out a way to help Welkin, he continued on with his rant by shouting "**And I can't ask Jack for help considering all that he's been through! We didn't even help him out during his circus of a trial and his father had to come here in order to bail him out! I need to get this all done so that we don't rush into this with half-cooked intelligence like we did at the supply base and lose a lot of good people that we will never get back! In the past couple of days, it's been practically impossible to get anything done! For one thing we don't have any logistics despite what the Regulars all claim! And we're lacking in any trained soldiers because the IVB left thanks to the Regulars harassing and insulting them! Alicia we're going up against the best General in the entire German military here! And despite everything that we're doing, this army is fragile enough to break at any minute! I'm on the edge here and I don't even know what to do with all of this!**"

Alica managed to stop Welkin's rant by wrapping her arms around him and enveloping him in a tight hug. Welkin, surprised by her actions, stopped talking as his eyes widened in surprise. He had to admit, Alicia felt rather warm. And that heat emanating from her started to make him feel all...fuzzy, inside. It even began to make him blush as his cheeks turned red, not that he even noticed at the moment. Not sure what to do next, Welkin slowly wrapped his own arms around Alicia and returned her hug, creating a tender moment between the two. The first one that they had since they first met. And as they stood there, Alicia whispered to Welkin "You're not alone here Welkin. Remember that."

* * *

**Again, sorry for the wait. I'm just going to let you know that I'm going to take a break from the writing and just relax with my family for the holidays. I'll be taking this break up till New Years so expect a new chapter for this to appear after New Years Day. So until we meet again, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	94. German Occupation

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes._)

_That same day_

_In German Occupied Randgriz_

In German occupied Randgriz, the proclaimed capital of the Gallian Reich collaborator government, the effects of Nazi rule were officially beginning to sink in. Byzantium had ordered Goebbels and Himmler to begin purging Gallia of the corrupt as well as those likely to oppose their rule over the country and brought before a crowd to be publicly executed. Even though Lelouch and Kallen were the ones that were supposed to be running Gallia, Byzantium, as the Kaiser of Germania still held power over them on certain matters such as the rounding up of dissidents for execution. This meant that they could do nothing but silently watch as this was beginning. Byzantium wasn't going to take any chances that these people would help organize dissent and subversion against the Nazis while they established their rule once more over the country. He wasn't going to let another revolution sweep throughout the country like what happened a hundred years ago.

They had set up the executions at Victory Plaza, a large, rectangle shaped, opened air section of the city with monuments, buildings, plaques, and statues built in dedication to Gallia's heroes of the past. The main attraction was the Victoria Gunther Memorial Building, a large building that was positioned at the end of the plaza that was closest to Castle Randgriz. It was a memorial dedicated to Gallia's revolutionary hero, Victoria Gunther, that doubled as a museum dedicated to those who served, fought, and died for Gallia to free her people from the Nazi Empire during the Gallian War for Independence, or as it's commonly called, "The Gallian Revolution". It was styled like an Ancient Greek building placed in the middle of a podium with rising stairs surrounding it along with large stone columns all around and a stone roof as well. Inside was a walled off interior which housed artifacts, documents, and more from that time.

But the most prominent feature of the large white statue of Victoria Gunther herself placed in front of the building. The memorial was created in the late 1800's with the statue itself only being erected after the end of the Great War. Her appearance was that of a young woman around Welkin's age, with flowing hair, the rugged clothes of a typical 19th century revolutionary leader, wielding both a cutlass pointed straight up to the sky, and a large book cradled in her other arm as well. The sword was meant to symbolize a willingness to fight for what was right while the book was to symbolize towards building a better tomorrow for the next generation to inherit. For many Gallians, she is a model that they should all inspire to be. A hero willing to stand up for those who couldn't defend themselves.

Her legacy is a testament to Gallia's will to resist occupation, and a symbol of defiance against the Third Reich. Though the Germans had done little to this area, no doubt they intended to destroy building and monument in the plaza once their rule over this land was secure. And to set an example that dissidence would not be tolerated, they had gathered thousands of civilians, all of them forced at gunpoint, to attend the executions here. In the past, watching executions were one of the few events of entertainment available in the past few centuries. People would flock to see the lives of criminals and traitors brought to an end. These days however, public opinion has changed drastically as many no longer wished to see it for themselves. They much rather prefer this to occur behind closed doors instead.

But in Germania, it was a different story. They still held public executions where they killed enemies of the state such as rebel leaders and such. It was a method the regime used to instill fear among it's people to prevent them from fighting, and it was rather effective at doing that. And with the help of Degrelle and his Rexist Militia, they had managed to set up this event. Building a large, elevated platform, complete with five hangmen nooses and lever activated trapdoors for each noose, the Germans prepared for a day full of executions. They built the platform in front of the the Victoria Gunther Memorial, with the statue of Victoria Gunther herself directly behind the platform. The armed Rexist soldiers faced the crowd and formed a line to act as a barrier between them and the area where the prisoners would be executed.

The prisoners scheduled to be executed were those in the nobility, government, and military that were responsible for Gallia's currently corrupt state. The Nazis had little tolerance for corruption and in Germania, it was a crime that resulted in either life sentence in the concentration camps, or like they would experience soon, an execution. There was a quiet tone in the air as the crowd felt a mix of dread and fear over what they were about to witness. They would have normally shed any tears for these men and women if they had passed away. But that didn't mean that they were wiling to watch them being executed and see their lifeless bodies dangle there. The mere sight of that would cause those with the weakest of stomachs to feel uncomfortably queasy and unable to withstand the sight for too long.

Lelouch and Kallen refused to be anywhere near this sight, but the same could no be said for Colonel Léon Degrelles who was overseeing this event and had his men act as security in order to make sure that everything went according to plan. And as they brought the prisoners, both chained and wearing the same clothing they wore when the Germans took the city, now dirty and ragged, Degrelle stood on the platform with two of his men providing security and a third operating the trapdoor lever. Degrelle smiled as he looked over the crowd gathered. In his mind, Léon thought to himself _"Now...things are finally going to change for the better. Now, we'll turn Gallia into the nation it was meant to be."_

And as the executions were taking place with five prisoners continually coming forward from a line and were placed in the nooses, Degrelle walked over to a podium placed upon the platform that had microphones on them and began delivering a speech to the people that was written by Goebbels himself. It was created to explain the change in policy within Gallia during this time of transition. Clearing his throat, Léon spoke clearly into the microphones and said in a cold voice the following message.

_**"In order to affect a timely halt to deteriorating conditions and to ensure the common good, a state of emergency is declared for this province, by decree of Heinrich Himmler, Chief of Public Security, duly appointed as temporary Minister of the Gallian Reich by His Imperial Majesty Byzantium zi Britannia I, Kaiser of the Imperial Germanian Reich, and Supreme Leader of the people of Europa."**_

Soon, the next wave of prisoners were escorted onto the platform, this group consisted of two government figures, a male and female noble, and the now _former_ Randgriz Police Commissioner. They had already been searched by the Rexists for anything of value such as expensive jewelry, wedding rings, even gold teeth that was plucked out violently with a pair of pliers. Some of them had tears in their eyes, seemingly hoping that this was all some sort of terrible dream that they were about to wake up from. But in their hearts they regretfully knew that this was real, and that it was the end of the line for them and the lives that they'd led at this point.

Each of them knew precisely for why they were chosen to be hung. With the political climate in Gallia, they used their positions of power to twist the laws to their favor, like the most of the government and aristocracy. They turned their back on the people they were supposed to represent and protect while they indulged themselves in more wealth and power than they ever would have achieved under the rule of Princess Cordelia's late father. Though they had greatly enjoyed those newfound privileges, like all things, it had come to an inevitable tragic end. And now, they were to pay for their crimes in front of the citizens of Randgriz as mere shells of their former selves. And as the Rexists wrap the nooses around their necks and tighten them, they could do little more than hope in silence that their sins will somehow be forgiven when they enter the next life.

_**"By decree, according to martial law, the following statues are hereby suspended for an indefinite period unless directed otherwise: Right to assembly, suspended."**_

The Rexist pulls the lever, opening the trapdoors and the five prisoners drop and suddenly stop, with the force of the halt enough to break their necks, effectively killing them. Many in the audience cringed at the sight of this, while other kept their children from having to witness this horrible event at such a young age. Tis a horrible way to meet one's end, and even more horrible for one to witness it as well. The Rexists immediately got them down and dragged their lifeless corpses so that the next five prisoners could be brought up. The bodies were placed onto carts that would be taken away by Germans on horseback to a dumping ground. This continued throughout the speech that Degrelle was giving to the crowd.

_**"Right to habeas corpus, suspended."**_

Five more prisoners were hung.

_**"Right to legal counsel, suspended."**_

Five more prisoners were hung.

_**"Right to verdict by a jury of peers, suspended."**_

Five more prisoners were hung.

_**"By decree, all organization either military or semi-military is officially disbanded. All public areas are temporarily out of bounds to civilians and no more than eight can gather at any given place at one time. A curfew is now in effect. Civilians are not permitted to be in the streets from 9:30 pm to daybreak. Any attempt to organize resistance against the Imperial Germanian Reich, entering or leaving the Province of Gallia without permission, possession of a firearm, use of public or government office for personal gain, or failure to comply with any of these laws, shall result in death without any trial."**_

The final five prisoners were hung, and the public executions were finally coming to an end. But these men were not the only people that were going to be hung. There was about to be another wave of prisoners going to be executed the same time tomorrow. The only difference was that this was going to be in a more closed door session where it would be kept from the public eye, like in the rear courtyard of Castle Randgriz. They had only made this session public so that they would instill enough fear in the population of Randgriz against fighting back against the German occupation. And if this didn't scare them enough, then they would just find something worse to scare them with.

* * *

_Meanwhile, in the Dungeons of Castle Randgriz_

The dungeons that resided underneath Castle Randgriz was perhaps the largest of any castle in Europa. It was a large, rectangular shaped structure with enough cells to house several hundred people and several other rooms such as a cafeteria that made it feel like a real prison. The only way into the dungeons was through a pair of large, reinforced steel doors which the Germans left well guarded. And the cells were both sturdy and built directly into the granite that the castle was built upon, limiting any chance that someone would be able to break out. The Germans had brought all the Gallian government and public figures, Gallian High Command, as well as any noble or soldier captured during the seizure of the city and the fortress of Aslone. At night, the prisoners were kept in their cells but were let out in the day when the Germans turned the lights on and brought them out whether they wanted to or not.

There was no way for them to know what was going on back up on the surface except for what the German soldiers told them. Though they were inclined not to believe a single word for that it could be false, most of them knew that quite frankly there was some truth in what the Germans told them. And that truth was this: the war was over and that Gallia had lost. All they could do now was simply reside in this prison until either they were transferred to a German concentration camp or be executed like the poor sobs that were just dragged out this morning at gunpoint by the Rexists that came in here. This was their life now, and boy did they hate it.

"Well this just sucks," said the now _former_ Captain of the Randgriz Royal Guard, sitting with a group of other prisoners in the main room of the dungeons. Being in the dungeons for a few days had already begun to hamper his spirits in that he was now losing hope of ever getting out of this place or even see sunlight again. Being confined in these dungeon walls was causing him to begin feeling like he was losing his mind. It was something that tended to happen to people who would normally be sent to solitary confinement or being in a mental facility. But considering that he and everyone else have been confined to this prison with absolutely no way out, losing one's mind was probably not the worst thing to happen to them.

The members of his group included Varrot, the former commander of Aslone fortress Major Arnold Weber, Lieutenant Colonel Ramsey Crowe, and finally Commodore Adam Harrington. The five of them were sitting at this stone table in uncomfortable chairs while the other prisoners went about their business while under the watchful eyes of their German captors who had guards patrolling all over the prison looking for any sign of an escape attempt. They've been talking about the current state of everything and a few of them were already losing heart and had given up, like the Captain and Harrington.

"I'm with you there. This wasn't exactly how I wanted to end my military career. But I guess drinking this swill for the rest of my life is what I'm going to be doing," said Harrington, commenting on the disgusting drink that the Germans were giving them along with the food. It tasted was reminiscent to turpentine and the smell was just as terrible as well. The food the Germans gave them was marginally better, but it consisted of stale bread, bland soup, and meat that tasted so strange that they didn't even know if it was even meat or just something the Germans whipped up and called it meat to the prisoners.

"We can't just give up, we have to try and stay positive," urged Varrot, trying to held keep their spirits alive and have them try to keep going on despite what was going on. However, they didn't seem to share her sense of faith.

"Seriously? 'Be positive'? Varrot how can we stay positive when we're prisoners in our country? The Black Prince runs this circus now! How are we supposed to fight him with our whole military scattered and without any leadership," scoffed Harrington, criticizing that thinking as impossible and foolhardy with a high probability of getting themselves into more trouble than they already were. Even though he would give anything to be back out there on a ship and continuing the fight against the Germans, there was no possible way that they were going to get out of this dungeon, let alone past the hundreds of armed guards that were right past those steel doors. It just seemed nothing short of impossible to accomplish.

Unfortunately, the Germans managed to overhear this conversation they were having. Though it didn't exactly sound like an escape plan, they didn't like having to hear Harrington complain so loudly. Having to hear it from other prisoners over the past few days were beginning to get on their nerves. They were okay if they discussed it among the other prisoners, the Germans just didn't want to be the ones to hear it as well. So when one of the German guards overheard Harrington as he walked by, he turned towards them and said with both a harsh tone and a stern face "Oi! Shut it or I'll shut it for you!"

This immediately caused Harrington to be silent and he avoided eye contact and took another sip from his metal cup as the German guard walked away. Once he was out of earshot and out of sight, Harrington let out a sigh that all he got was just some stern words and not a beating for what he had said. Others were not so lucky. There have been those among the prisoners like the Gassenarls and General Damon who did nothing but complain, insult, and ridicule the Germans or the fact that they kept them in such 'barbaric conditions'. Of course, this annoyed the German guards to no end when they first imprisoned them here that they quickly vented their frustrations on the unlucky prisoners. They beat the Gassenarls and Damon until they were certain that they had learned their lesson and would not bother them anymore. However, it didn't stop the Germans from just beating them again whenever they got out of line...which was a lot.

And it looks like they did it yet again. Four German guards, dragging the Gassenarl siblings with them, suddenly threw them into the room and had them land hard upon the ground which caused them to let out a grunt as they collided with the hard and cold stone floor. The Germans, more annoyed than they had ever seen them, spat on them before the leader of their group threatened them by saying "The next time you mouth off, we won't just beat you up! We'll drag you both out of here to be hung with the next batch of prisoners!"

They stormed off as Audrey and Baldren slowly got back up on their feet, despite the pain they both felt from the beating. Their faces showed signs of cuts and bruises from where the Germans punched and kicked them. Their uniforms were torn as well in several places, and the ends of their sleeves and pants had become quite tattered as well, indicating just how badly the beatings had gotten. As they were getting up, the Randgriz Royal Guard Captain mentioned to them "Though...this is probably one of the bright sides out of this whole thing."

This managed to get a chuckle out of Harrington as he looked at the Gassenarl twins who had finally managed to get back up on their feet. To say they found that comment not very amusing would have been an understatement. They were in a bad mood and it was evident when the two of them looked at Harrington with an irritated glare. Baldren still in pain from the beating, managed to spit out "Stow it...Commodore...I have no interest...in hearing you...laugh at me!"

"We have that luxury now. We're gonna be stuck in this place for a very long time. Though the time would go much faster if they gave us some decent spirits to drink," commented Crowe, pouring the terrible swill they gave them onto the floor. Crowe was now pretty much sober as he didn't drink a drop of alcohol since the Germans locked them all down here. And after drinking this swill for the past few days, he was sure looking forward to something real to drink. He was longing to guzzle down a nice bottle of bourbon right now and let the effects of the alcohol take hold. At least his current state of reality would seem much better if he was drunk rather than being sober.

"The German Army...has taken our lands...and placed a pretender on the throne...and all you can think of is liquor?!" cried out Audrey, managing to get her words out a few at a time through all the pain she was experiencing like her brother. She never really did like Crowe in the fact he acted completely unprofessional despite his rank in the military. She was simply disgusted that anyone that would be in the Gallian Armed Services, much less the officer in charge of the country's Special Forces and Operations, would act in such an unprofessional and vulgar way. Especially when everything around them was being seized by the Nazi Empire.

Crowe, being his usual nonchalant self, merely leaned back on his seat, kicked his feet up onto the table, and said back to Audrey "At least I have the sense to not piss off the guys who are armed and beat us up for annoying them to death like you two do."

"At least we're still...resisting. And not...giving up," pointed out Baldren, managing to find an open seat and sat down to rest his weary body with his sister pulling up a chair and doing the same.

"Well what do you expect us to do? We're prisoners here, and unarmed. If we tried to do something, the Germans would kill us all. Face it, they won the war. Now buzz off and complain to someone else will ya?," said Harrington, trying to get the Gassenarl's to open their eyes and see reality for once in their lives. There was no way that they were going to get out of this prison for them unless someone came to get them out. And with the massive German Army separating the Castle and what remained of the Gallian military, that was about as likely to happen as Byzantium declaring that the German Army must withdraw from Gallia. So this meant that they were all going to be stuck here forever.

"Don't worry, we'll get out of here. You'll see," assured Varrot, confident that they wouldn't be trapped here for long.

"For your sake Varrot, I hope you're right," muttered Crowe, not sharing her enthusiasm that this whole situation would be resolved.

* * *

_In the Residential Blocks_

The Residential Blocks of Randgriz were almost abandoned as most of the people who lived there were residing in the subway tunnels for safety or had left when the Germans began bombing the city. Those that remained chose to stay in their homes and hoped to wait out the war. Now they were just hoping to stay alive under the German occupation of the city. So far that wasn't going very well. The Germans were conducting raids on the ruined homes, looking for any kind of contraband in both the abandoned houses and the ones that were still inhabited. Most of the time they didn't find anything of interest. And when they did find anything it was mainly items such as the Gallian flag, a portrait of the late Archduke Albert II, or any national symbol related to Gallia under the rule of the Randgriz Royal Family. What the Germans were most interested in finding were products that were manufactured in the United States and exported to Gallia.

After America achieved their independence and publicly condemned the practices of the Nazi Reich, the German government placed a ban on any American goods from entering Germania. They didn't allow any books, music, or any other American products to ever be allowed into the country, as the German government commissioned individuals to create German versions of American products in an attempt to compete with them. Most of them weren't quite as good however, which lead to the creation of a black market in Germania where American goods were smuggled in for those who could afford them. This went mainly to criminal groups who sold them to people in all classes of Germanian society, at a price though. So this lead to German soldiers to be ordered to destroy these items immediately upon finding them during a raid.

And currently, there was one such raid going on at a corner house in the Residential Blocks that was supposedly hiding contraband goods. The German forces occupying the city received an anonymous tip that there was contraband being stored in an abandoned house there and supplied them with the address. Soon, a German truck arrived with about eight German troops jumping out of the truck and taking regrouping near the entrance to the building. From what they could see, it seemed like a good place to hide something that someone didn't want to be found. The windows were all boarded up, preventing anyone from looking inside. Every floor above the first one was utterly demolished but it seemed that the ceiling was somehow still standing along with some of the walls from the second floor including a window sill. Even with all these features, it would have been clear to anyone that this place was likely a hiding place for something important.

Wasting no time, the Germans moved in to breach through the door and take whatever was hidden here. What the Germans didn't realize however was that they were being watched. From above, hiding behind the remnants of the wall on the second floor of the ruined building, a Gallian civilian armed with a Mags-M4 sub-machine gun waited nervously as the Germans approached closer and closer to the door. Wiping the sweat off his brow, he firmly held his weapon and awaited for the signal. Meanwhile, two more Gallian civilians, a female civilian and a male Darcsen took up position on the rooftop of the adjacent building. The Darcsen was armed with a stolen Mauser C96 pistol while the woman had a small bolt-action hunting rifle.

When Lelouch and his army seized control of the Gallian capital back on the twenty-seventh, the transition of power didn't go completely unopposed. These three individuals were part of the Randgriz Rebels, a resistance group that was formed when Lelouch's army marched into the city days earlier. Their primary goal was to overthrow the German occupation and oppose this so called "Gallian Reich" government which they view as a puppet state made up of traitors to Gallia. The exact numbers of the group were unknown, but it was lead by what was left of the Randgriz Police Department and included other civil organizations and a lot of civilians who had volunteered to take up arms against the Germans. So far they hadn't taken any action yet, merely working to build up what they can and steal whatever they need to fight, weapons being the most critical at this point. They managed to take some weapons from the police armories as well as having some members of the group use their own personal weapons. But if they were going to put up any meaningful resistance, then they would need to take weapons from the German military. They had to either steal them, or kill the Germans and take it from their bodies. The latter, was what they were planning to do right now.

Three German soldiers approached the door while the rest backed up and readied their weapons. One of the Germans tried to open the door but found it locked and unable to budge. So with that option cone, they decided to just kick open the door. That same soldier took a few steps back with the two soldiers with him giving him some space but staying close. The soldier then charged forward and with one mighty kick he busted down that door, knocking it right of the hinges. However, he had also set off the trap that the resistance had set up, detonating a series of bundled grenades that exploded violently. The shock wave destroyed the door as well as the surrounding walls of the entrance, sending bits of brick and stone flying everywhere. Both of these killed the three Germans that were closest to it while it send the rest of the German troops staggering.

The resistance fighters soon joined the fight, with the woman sizing up a German soldier with her rifle and firing a shot, killing the German with a shot to the back. The Germans, now alerted to the threat, quickly looked back and returned fire causing the woman and the Darcsen to take cover. The civilian still hiding in the ruined building, popped out of cover and began firing at the Germans from the ruined window, managing to kill two of the Germans still there, dropping their numbers down to three. However, the Germans weren't done yet. When the women tried to fire another shot, one of the Germans beat her to it as he fired a shot from his Kar98k, scoring a direct hit on the woman in the neck. She fell back and choked on her own blood as she tried to breathe. The Darcsen with her, was momentarily shaken by what he had just seen. He was frozen, being unable to move anything. All he could do was watch in horror as the woman slowly but surely died from the amount of blood loss and shock, with her eyes now void of any sign of life.

The Germans soon turned their attention back to the other resistance fire, keeping him pinned behind the wall, even though he still popped out and fired a few bursts from his Mags-M4. Gritting his teeth as he reloaded another fresh magazine into his weapon, he hoped that the Darcsen would start shooting back or else both of them were about to join the woman in death. Bringing himself back to reality, the Darcsen managed to come out of his shock, and grab the rifle before taking aim at one of the Germans and squeezing the trigger. The shot hit the a German in the back of the head, a German who wore a field cap instead of a helmet. As the German collapsed dead onto the ground, the remaining two Germans tried to fight back by splitting up. One would handle the Darcsen while the other handled the other resistance fighter.

One German moved into the building through the blown out entrance to try and take out the Gallian but he was spotted through a large hole in the ceiling and the male resistance fighter fired through the hole, killing the German before he had a chance to fire back. Meanwhile, the German slowly approached the building the Darcsen was in, holding his rifle at the ready. To his surprise, the Darcsen appeared through the doorway, with the rifle slung over his shoulder and the pistol in his hand. The two immediately took aim and fired almost at the same time. The German was shot in the stomach while the Darcsen was shot in the side. The German slowly collapsed onto the ground while the Darcsen leaned against the wall, clutching his bloody wound with the other hand. The pain he felt was like a thousand red hot needles were being jabbed into that one side.

However, he had little time to think much about it. He looked and saw that the German, despite all the pain, was trying to aim his rifle at the Darcsen. Just when he looked like he was about to fire, the Darcsen managed to point his pistol at his and fired two more shots. Both shots hit the German in the chest, killing him as his limbs and head slumped back onto the ground. Even though the skirmish was over, other Germans would have heard the shooting by now and will likely be heading there way with reinforcements. They needed to grab the guns and ammo and leave before they arrived.

Trying to get past all the pain, the Darcsen limped his way to the dead Germans where the other resistance fight was already at work, grabbing several rifles and as much ammo as he could carry. He looked to his wounded companion and said in a frantic tone "Come on Dark-hair. We need to get moving before more Nazis show up."

And as if on cue, they heard the sounds of German reinforcements coming their way. And from the sound of it...they were bringing in tanks. They would have to leave now and forget about getting whatever ammo was left. Helping his companion, the resistance fighter had the Darcsen put his arm over his shoulders and the two moved as quick as they could to the nearest manhole. The man grabbed the manhole covering and pulled it off, alowing them to make their escape. He let the injured Darcsen go down first and moved slowly due to his wound, making the other resistance fighter more nervous as to the impending German forces heading their way. Once the Darcsen was safely down there, the other fighter threw the weapons and ammo down there before climbing down and putting the manhole back on before the Germans could see them.

* * *

**And with that, the beginning of an insurgency against Lelouch's forces has begun.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	95. Chats and Task Force Valiant

**Sorry for the long wait. New semester of college and I had a lot of things to do. I had to move back into my dorm, get accustomed to the new schedule, get the new textbooks, etc. etc. Anyway, this chapter is a little shorter than my usual one because I was in a rush to get everything in. Sorry about that. Either way, enjoy.**

* * *

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_April 26, 1935_

_Amaranthine Forest_

_1925 hours (7:25 pm)_

As night fell upon the camp for the second night, the Gallians began setting up campfires throughout the staging area for those gathered to rest and gather their strength for the next long day of work. Even though thousands of Regulars, Militia, and civilian volunteers have come to this site, they were far from ready to mount any kind of attack upon the German defenses of Randgriz. The Germans still far outnumbered them in terms of manpower and equipment and many of the Militia and civilian volunteer units needed some more training before they were ready to take on the seasoned German troops that Lelouch had at his disposal. For now, they were going to wait out a few more days until they would be ready to move out and begin marching upon the capital in their bid to reclaim it. But there was a down side to that. For every day they spent gathering their forces, Lelouch was able to strengthen his hold upon the capital and increase his defenses, making it all the more harder for the Gallians to ever have the chance to break through into the city.

The next few days were going to be crucial. Victory of defeat in the upcoming battle would be determined on just how well the Gallians would be able to fight against Lelouch's troops. But as for now, they weren't think of that right now, especially the members of Squad 7, who had gathered by their campfire in the middle of the large encampment. They managed to set up large canvas tents around the fire so that the Squad could catch some sleep for the time being, with the_ Edelweiss_ and the _Shamrock Mk II_ parked beside their section of the encampment. Welkin suggested they move their two vehicles here in order to keep a better eye on them, with Isara being glad about it. And all the while, the other Gallian soldiers were camped close to Squad 7 and other soldiers continued to move from camp to camp as they carried out their duties for the night.

In his tent, Welkin tried to get some sleep after the stressful day that he had just had but couldn't because of several people nearby who were using the voices quite loudly. Alicia, Faldio, Mary Read, and Isabella were arguing over several different things, mostly about what they should do next. Faldio wanted to head straight to Randgriz immediately as he was eager to take the fight directly towards Lelouch as soon as possible. He was opposed by Isabella and Mary who had their own differing views on this. Mary wanted to strike once they managed to rally enough soldiers to overwhelm Lelouch's troops, but Isabella thought differently. She claimed that they should be more trained and prepared before they could do so and to trust that Welkin could figure out precisely what to do next. Alicia was in the middle of all this as she tried to get them all to calm down and work together in this. But no matter what she did, the three of them just didn't seem to stop arguing.

"Well what are we supposed to do? Just sit here and do nothing while a German flag flies over Randgriz?" cried out Faldio, not believing that they're suggesting they don't act soon.

"We can't just charge in recklessly! We lack in everything that the Germans readily possess. We need to approach this carefully," pointed out Read.

"And we should just listen to you? The Regular Army and the stupidity of Isabella's father is the reason we're all in this mess to begin with!" argued Faldio as he pointed out all that Gallia had lost thanks to the Regular Army's failures.

"Hey! I'm not my father here! We need to use reason here. Without any sort of logistics or any reasonable number of troops, we're not going to get anywhere," shot back Isabella, not taking to Faldio's comment too well.

"Enough! Guys this arguing is getting us nowhere!" cried out Alicia, finally managing to get to say something in this whole argument.

"Well we're agreed on that much," scoffed Read as she crossed her arms.

Though Welkin believed that it was best to solve their differences through speaking them out than keeping them all bottled inside, that didn't exactly mean that it was best to do it this late at night when people were trying to prepare for sleep. Finally having enough, he begins getting up from his bed cot to try and solve this. But he was stopped by Jack, who was sitting just outside of the tent and leading against the wooden pole that was holding up the end of the tent where the entrance was located. Jack turned his head to look at Welkin getting up and gestured with his hand to just stop what he was doing and stay there. Along with the hand gesture, he looked to him and said sincerely "Just stop Welkin. You need some sleep."

"They've been at it for almost an hour now," commented Welkin, still a little tired.

"It's a luxury we can afford at the moment thanks to you. It's best they use it while they have the chance," assured Jack, slowly turning his head around to look at the argument with a look of complacency and understanding upon his face. Jack knew what he was talking about cause he had seen it before. In the early days of the Soviet Invasion of Alaska back in 1932, he had seen stuff like this occur in the towns located near the army base where he underwent basic training in early January. People were all afraid that the Soviets would manage make their way back to their towns. So they all did all the things they used to take for granted such as hang out with friends, go to parties, or other such things because they were afraid that once the Soviets arrived that everything they knew would be taken away from them. So with the time they all had back then, they spent every moment like it was their last, making the best out of every single moment of their lives.

And apparently, this was also evident among the members of Squad 7 that were assembled here. Each of them were busy doing something to pass the time and have a few pleasant moments throughout the next few days before they marched upon Randgriz to confront the Germans in a seemingly titanic clash. It was all they could do to try and hide the fear and anxiety they were all keeping hidden inside, trying to show no signs of it. Each had their own thing on how to relax. Freesia and Salinas were busy flirting with each other, Ramona was reading a fashion magazine from before the war, and Marina was calibrating the sights on her rifle to make sure that it was just right. The only one who wasn't enjoying herself was Edy, who earlier had tried to show that she could sing just as well as Rosie...and everyone finding out that she was completely tone deaf and also unaware of it. apparently, she was so bad that Jack afterward commented 'if I had the choice of being shot by a German and listening to her singing...I'd take the bullet hands down'. Safe to say that once the whole singing started, Jack had Homer literally shove a sock into her mouth to save everyone's eardrums from being damaged any further. And Edy was now sitting down with her arms and legs crossed and with a pouting look on her face like she was some upset child who didn't get what she wanted.

Seeing the squad managing to try and find whatever moments of happiness they could find in this time didn't seem to do much to help lift his spirits. Despite the helpful talk from Alicia earlier today, he was still having trouble with the pressures of the situation upon their shoulders. So much depended on them and so much could go wrong. Managing to sit up, he scooted forward to sit next to Jack and commented to him "If they're arguing about what to do next, I should be there to help."

"Trust me. Another heated voice isn't going to help. It'll just make things worse. And adding you to the mix may definitely not help thing," countered Jack, taking off his helmet and placing it on the ground next to him. To many people, Welkin was the leader of this whole assembled army. They saw him as a man that could take on the impossible and win, as evident to how he and Squad 7 managed to beat the Germans every time they faced them in a battle. If anyone could be able to win this fight, then it was the son of General Belgen Gunther.

"Why do you think Lelouch hasn't come here yet? He knows where we are so why doesn't he attack?" inquired Welkin, turning his head towards Jack. This was a thought that had been plaguing his mind since this whole thing started. Welkin's message over the radio was sure to have reached Randgriz by now. With all the power and military forces at his disposal, Lelouch would have quickly assembled them and launched an assault upon the forest. He would have been able to destroy their little fledgling force before they could pose any threat to his rule.

Jack turned to Welkin and with a raised eyebrow, he explained "My guess is that he really wants to fight you on even terms...more or less. If I know Lelouch...and I know him pretty well, it's that you represent the one thing that he's always wanted: a worthy opponent. He wants to fight you and this army when you're ready, not when he is. To test your strength and match his wits with yours. If would be too easy for him if he just wiped us out here and then. That's the equivalent of boring to him."

"I still don't understand why he's so fixated on me of all people," noted Welkin, still quite unsure on that matter.

"I wouldn't exactly say he's 'fixated' so to speak. I guess it has to do with what happened between your father and his mother. They were the biggest of rivals back in the Great War and Lelouch probably see's this as the one opportunity to settle it once and for all. That...and plus he probably see's you as an equal. I think so at least," explained Jack, still a little unsure himself if he truly had the right answer for this himself. But he was probably right on the idea that due to Welkin's achievements in this war probably made Lelouch view him as probably the one competent officer that could possibly offer him a challenge.

Welkin was silent for a moment before he asked Jack sincerely "So tell me then. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate our odds of success on this matter?"

Jack looked at him with an unsure look on his face. Nervously rubbing the back of his head, he replied back with "Um, I'm not sure you want to hear my opinion on this Welkin. You might not like it.

"Surprise me," calmly demanded Welkin.

Well at our current numbers...best case scenario...I'd give us a six. Worst case scenario...maybe three. Or two and a half," admitted Jack in a blunt matter, showing how he felt about their odds of success at the moment. Welkin, hoping that Jack's answer would have been a little more opportunistic, merely lowered his head and pinched his brow in frustration as he let out a deep sigh. He was starting to regret even asking Jack his opinion about this. No doubt this opinion was shared by every other soldier within the camp. They all knew how low the odds of success were for this plan to go. But they still went along with it anyway out of blind hope that this would all somehow work out in the very end. Hope...was about the only thing that was keeping them all going.

Faldio once told Welkin back at the University that hope is a tricky thing. It was the only thing in the world that was stronger than fear. And it was something that the Nazi Empire kept in check. To the Nazis, a little hope kept the masses in line, but too much hope would inspire them to rise up against their rule and most likely lead to their destruction. This was evident in the case of Gallia when it rose up against the Germans and won their independence back in the 1830's. Hope for a better tomorrow and an end to a dark era of history for them all. Hope can inspire people, allow them to accomplish anything. And it was the one thing...that could help lead this fledgling army to victory in the coming days.

"But...that doesn't mean I still think there's still a slim chance we can still win this," commented Jack, his tone on the subject taking a complete 180. Welkin, surprised by this sudden change of attitude, raised his head and looked over to Jack with a surprised expression upon his face.

"And what makes you say that all of a sudden?" inquired Welkin, wanting to know the reason behind what Jack just said.

Jack wasted no time in explaining as he told Welkin while shifting his body a bit to become more relaxed. Once he was comfortable, he explained to Welkin "When I was young, my father had this line readily available whenever I was stuck on homework or something. He told me 'You're so certain your efforts will end in defeat. However there is always a chance that you'll succeed in the end. So what do you have left to lose?' My father had a lot of quotes like this for me and my siblings while we were growing up."

The words Jack spoke had a greater effect than the young American realized. As those words sunk into Welkin's thoughts, he soon realized the wisdom in that saying Jack's father said all those years ago. Though it may seem that the chances of ever accomplishing something may seem small, and that no matter what it will be likely end in failure...that wasn't completely true. There was always this small sliver of chance, this little unforeseen circumstance that one could succeed and lead one to accomplish that which everyone deemed as impossible. Perhaps that was the key to all of this. To believe that one can succeed no mater what kind of odds are set against you. Then, and possibly on then, you can achieve anything. It seems that Jack's father and Welkin's were pretty similar. They probably would have gotten along just nicely if they had met before his Belgen Gunther's death. In Welkin's mind, he guessed that answered his question.

But there was another one that he was wondering: Why did Jack elect to stay here in Gallia while the rest of the IVB chose to leave? With their allies leaving and with Randgriz now firmly within German hands, it didn't seem like Jack had any reason to stay and fight for hopeless cause. Jack had probably had enough of fights like this no doubt from serving in Alaska with his former squad mates. So why was he still here, despite all the odds saying that they would not likely survive against the German Army...or even go up against his friend Lelouch as well. No doubt that Colinel Isaac and Lightning, two of Lelouch's chief lieutenants in his organization, would likely have told their boss that Jack was here in Gallia and fighting alongside the Gallian Militia Squad that had defeated both his men as well as the Germans stationed at Vasel. It was surprising to see that with the likelihood that Jack was now going up against his childhood friend anytime soon.

"Why are you even here Jack? This is as good an opportunity you'll get to go back home and out of harms way. So why are you staying?" inquired a curious Welkin, wanting an answer out of Jack.

Suddenly, Jack seemed somewhat hesitant to answer, as evident by him turning his head to avoid eye contact as well as proceeding to bite the bottom lip while rubbing the back of head as he tried to mount the courage to admit what he was going to say next. Of course Jack knew precisely the reason for why he had decided to stay and fight...it's just he wasn't exactly planning on telling anyone, much less Welkin, those reasons just yet. He figured that he would at some point, but he was expecting it to be sometime later, like when they would be heading off to march upon the city or when the battle was over...if they won that is. To be honest, he was feeling a little embarrassed that he would be telling it now. Jack was never really really good at expressing deep thoughts, hence his sarcastic and humorous personality...as well as his recent relationships with women if they counted. But apparently now he was going to have to explain it now, whether he wanted to or not.

So with a sigh, he turned his head to face Welkin before explaining "Look, I know I've never been the most...serious guy you've ever met. I've also given you guys some good reasons to doubt me in the past few days. But at times like this, I think about home. I miss the city, baseball games at Yankee stadium, my family. I even miss this dollar store I used to go to as a kid. To me, that;s where I belong. That's home. And that's why I'm here. Cause you and everyone here don't have home. They were taken from you. But I'll help you guys take it back if I can."

Jack's words surprised Welkin and also took him aback. He didn't expect such a response to come from Jack, who was like the comical relief for Squad 7. To hear him say something like this...it was a big difference from the character he had known since late August of last year. He was always the carefree, comical guy who managed to get himself into the craziest of situations simply by opening his mouth and saying at the wrong thing at the wrong time. But the man sitting beside Welkin right now didn't seem to be that man. But what was clear to Welkin was this little bit: Jack, despite all that the ups and downs of their friendship, Welkin still regarded him as perhaps his closest friend. And Welkin knew that wasn't going to change anytime soon. Wrapping an arm around Jack's shoulders, Welkin told Jack with a smile "You know Jack, you really are a good person."

"I'm also a jackass apparently. You've forgotten that part. A lot of people seem to tell me that every chance they get," noted Jack, reminding Welkin of that little fact.

Welkin let out a small chuckle at that before saying "Yeah, I know. Just don't change anytime soon."

* * *

_Meanwhile,_

_Dublin Ireland, Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland_

A few days after the Gallians set about rallying a force to try and retake the capital from the Germans, Dublin was already abuzz with the sight of the gathering military force as well. This combined military force between Great Britain and Ireland, France, America, and the Soviet Union, was given the code name: _Task Force Valiant_. The bay was being filled with warships from all four powers that had pledged to create this force that was tasked to intervene in Gallia in case the Gallians seem like they're on the verge of victory in retaking the capital. American and French warships primarily dominated the water between Ireland and Britain, with some American and Russian ships there as well with more on the way there. The ships ranged from the smallest of destroyers to even a few battleships and aircraft carriers. The four nations managed to gather a lot of landing craft and cargo ships to help transport the number of troops, vehicles, and supplies that they were going to be bringing with them when they broke through the German blockade and started to land on the coast.

Inside Dublin, the sight of America, French, British, and Russian troops became all the more common as they gathered in the town and surrounding countryside for the mission they would be going on. They were seen pretty much everywhere. Patrolling in the streets, at the buildings the British converted into temporary barracks to house them, and on the docks where some were boarding boats to take them or their equipment to the cargo ships in case they would be heading out anytime soon. Thanks to the coordination between the militaries of these four nations, they had managed to rally a significant force in the past few days and had more heading towards their location to help strengthen them. Hopefully it would be enough to be able to break through the German's naval blockade and help reinforce the Gallian positions.

Each of these nations sent their best troops, along with the best in terms of vehicles, weaponry, aircraft, and more. When fighting against a foe like the Nazi Empire, one would need to bring their very best in order to face them. These men and women would need every advantage they could get. Which is why some of their best troops were mustered for this. Some very infamous units were brought in for this operation such as the British Praetorian Guard, the Cadian Shock Corps (named after their founder, Lt. Colonel James Cadia from the American Civil War) and 101st Airborne of the United States Army, the French Foreign Legion, and finally the Vallhallan Ice Warriors unit of the Russian Red Guard. Each of these units had a long standing history and had many well known victories from previous wars throughout history. Mnay of it's members had received medals and honors for their bravery and skill they showed in these various battles. Perhaps now they can use all their training and expertise against the Germans and show them exactly what they were capable of doing.

On the flagship of _Task Force Valiant_, the _USS Enterprise_, the commanders of the task force were on the ship coordinating on the battle plan. The man appointed leader of Task Force Valiant was an American General named Dwight. D Eisenhower, commonly referred to as 'Ike' by the American troops that served under his command. The forty-five year old Eisenhower was a well known and respected General in the American High Command, having served as a military adviser to Federation and Imperial Russian forces during the Great War, and later on in the Second Mexican-American War when it broke out in 1916. The man, wearing his General's uniform showed his distinction and his officer's cap helped cover up his graying hair and receding hairline. His blue eyes hid the thoughts of a man who cared for his troops and country, and would fulfill his duty to the end and see any task carried out.

Right now, he was walking through the metal corridors of the aircraft carrier as he was accompanied by two other officers: a female African-American Lieutenant who served as Eisenhower's aide and the male Darcsen-American Captain of the _Enterprise_. They were informing him of any recent developments concerning the gathering of their forces as well as the current logistics and plans for breaking the German naval blockade. The Captain of the ship told Eisenhower as they moved through the ship "The Russian fleet's been delayed a day due to a storm of the Kola Peninsula. They'll be here in two days instead of tomorrow."

"Hopefully they'll get here in time then Captain. Or else they'll think we're gonna have all the fun without them," commented Eisenhower.

"Permission to speak freely sir?" asked the Lieutenant, a question appearing in her mind.

"Permission granted, Lieutenant," answered Eisenhower bluntly.

The Lieutenant just came out and asked him "Is it wise to bring the Russians into this sir? We were at war with them not that long ago. And they may try to subvert the Gallian government, bring about a communist revolution in Gallia sir."

"If I remember correctly Lieutenant, they're having difficulties back home trying to fix up everything we damaged during the war. They're not in any position of strength to create some kind of revolution much less one in a small country. They're in this for the same reason that we are: to stop the Nazis from expanding their influence any farther," refuted Eisenhower, believing wholly that the Russian troops that were sent here were allied to their cause and had no ulterior motive or hidden agenda. He knew that the Secretary of State, his good friend and comrade from the war, had managed to convince Premier Novogod to commit some of his forces to the effort here...well, whatever troops that have the capacity to fight that is. So far the Russians hadn't done anything suspicious and Eisenhower had no doubt that the Russians wouldn't be able to pull of any backstabbing trick. He trusted them...as odd as it sounded.

"Understood General, forgive me if I was out of line," apologized the Lieutenant, taking back her words.

Eisenhower merely stopped and turned to face her and simply said "No need for apologies Lieutenant. I might have done the same were I in your position."

It was then that the Captain of the _Enterprise_ spoke up again, inquiring to Eisenhower "Sir? You think the Gallians are actually going to succeed in this? Like...actually win?"

Eisenhower was silent for a few moments before he looked over to the Captain before admitting "I do. I really do. I've seen them fight during the Great War. Gallia may be a small country, it may not have the amount of men or equipment we have here, but when they're back is against the wall they'll give the enemy hell to keep hold over what they have left. Will they succeed? You can bet anything that they will. The Black Prince has no idea what he's going up against. And the whole German Army has no idea what it's gonna face when we show up."

He went back to moving through the ship with the two other officers following a few seconds later. The trio went up a set of ladders and stairs before they eventually entered the bridge of the _Enterprise_. From there, they could see every ship in the bay as far as the eye could see. As he looked out, Eisenhower hoped that the other commanders of _Task Force Valiant_ would arrive soon along with the rest of the forces being sent here to make it up. Because once they set out, they would be repeating history as they head out to aid the Gallians against the Nazi Empire like they did a hundred years ago. They could only hope that this time they would send a message to the Germans: to stay out of Gallia once and for all.

* * *

**Just to be clear, the _USS Enterprise_ was a real aircraft carrier from WW2 as well as the one that saw the most action and who's crew was the most decorated by far. I didn't put it i reference to the ship from Stark Trek and the Captain of the ship isn't James T. Kirk for anyone who actually thinks that. This is an _actual_ ship that _actually_ existed during the Second World War. Just to let you all know.**

**Either than that, we now have seen a nice moment between Jack and Welkin and we've seen the alliance between Britain, France, American, and the Soviet Union as they rally their forces to form _Task Force Valiant_. Hopefully soon you'll get to see them in action.**

**Also if you're a fan of Warhammer 40k, you'll recognize some of the names up there: The Cadian Shock Troops, Praetorian Guard, and Valhallan Ice Warriors are infamous units in the Imperial Guard that draw reference from units in the countries I've put them in here. I've modified them enough so that they'll be able to fit within here in the WW2 environment such as their uniforms and weaponry. Just to let you know that is.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	96. The IVB Returns

**Sorry for the wait everyone. I've been pretty busy with schoolwork and things going on in my personal life. Haven't had much time when it came to writing. This chapter's a bit shorter than my usual ones and not that quite exciting...but the next ones may be better. At least, I'm hoping that you find the next ones to be better. Other than that, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_April 27, 1935_

_Amaranthine Forest_

_0947 hours (9:47 am)_

Now entering the third day of building their military, the number of Gallians within the forest continued to swell. More and more Gallians from the Regulars, Militia, and volunteers from local villages continued to come as if they were making a holy pilgrimage of some kind. And over the past couple of days, with the amount of preparation they were putting into this rag tag army, the officers in charge could begin to see that they were making progress in the amount of readiness for when they would begin their attack upon the city any day now. However, they were still lacking in several other categories. These were their lack of heavy weapons, cannons, planes, armor capable of combating German Panzers, and some other gear such as steel helmets. But they would have to make due with them and take what they can from the dead on both sides to make up for that difference when the fighting began.

For now, much of the camp, aside from those that were standing guard at the perimeter of their camp, were focusing on eating breakfast and gathering the energy they would need for today. And in the section of the camp reserved for Squad 7, they were all eating the standard Gallian Army rations that were given to them for breakfast. Though military rations were designed to be nutritious, no one said anything that they would end up tasting bland and absolutely revolting to all but the few who had gotten used to stuff like this such as Largo and Jack. But for most of the squad...it wasn't the same for them as they had to get used to this stuff.

"Yuck! What is this supposed to be anyway?!" whined Edy, as she looked upon the food that she was supposed to eat, not sure what it was supposed to be.

"I think those are supposed to be scrambled eggs," commented Homer, sitting next to her and making a guess as to what the food was.

Edy didn't care. She just sat the plate aside with disgust and said "Either way, I'm not eating that garbage."

"Too bad. More for us anyway," said Largo as he calmly ate his rations along with Largo, causing Edy and several other to look in amazement that he could actually eat this stuff and not end up getting sick. For veterans like Largo, Coby, and Musaad, they had eaten so many of these rations during their time on the front lines that their taste buds have become quite numb to the taste of them. And when it came to fighting a war, soldiers couldn't be picky about what it was that they ate. But still, that didn't mean that these rations couldn't taste somewhat more flavorful...or at least have some flavor. And many in the squad felt the same about that.

"They should have at least put me in charge of making these. I used to run a restaurant before the war. Made a lot of home style cooking. I can at least make them nutritious _and_ actually tasty," testified Yoko, as she picked up a forkful of her eggs and looked it over before it fell off and landed back on her plate. She was somewhat appalled by the food they were given in the military. She wouldn't serve any of this food back at her restaurant. She would sooner have shut her place down before she would do that.

"You can do that. For me, I always end up comparing this stuff to my sister-in-law's cooking," added Jack, as he said this piece in the conversation.

Isara, seated next to him, stooped eating for a moment and looked to Jack, asking him with a mouth full of food "You have a sister-in-law?"

"Yes...I do. She's married to my oldest brother. She's the smartest person that I know but she's also the most terrible cook I've ever met. And not to be rude here, but next time maybe you should ask me a question with a mouth that's not full of food. Cause I think I felt the spit come out of it right now," replied Jack, while also critiquing Isara's poor little habit of talking with her mouth full of food. Isara quickly remedied this by simply swallowing her food and making a mental note to talk _after_ she had finished the food that was in her mouth next time.

"Really? Is she that bad?" inquired Rosie, raining an eyebrow in suspicion of Jack's claim. She couldn't comprehend how someone could be that bad of a cook, even if it was someone related to you.

"Let me put it like this: between eating this stuff which is bland and tasteless, yet nutritious, and eating something that's been burned to a crisp...I'd go with bland and tasteless every time. At least with this I can actually digest it," explained Jack, before putting another bite of the eggs in his mouth, reminiscing about the times his sister-in-law made some pretty terrible food.

"To be fair though, I think the Germans at Vasel had better rations than we do," mentioned Welkin with a smile, remembering the nice food they ate from the captured German stocks back from when they recaptured Vasel over a week or so ago. Unlike the Gallian rations, the Germans seemed to spare no expense in having their troops fed with some of their countries most distinctive foods such as sausages, sauerkraut, beer, chocolate, cheeses, bread, beer, and more. These meals were good quality and tasted very well. At the very least, the Gallians could use this as an example in an attempt to make their rations taste more flavorful so that it could be more easy to digest and lead to fewer complaints by those who ate them.

"Amen to that. At least it's better than-" started Coby, before he was interrupted by the sound of a horn coming from the south, filling the air as it sounded off. The sound of it seemingly caused everyone in the camp to stop what they were doing and look aimlessly as they tried to figure out what was going on. The sound of the horn most likely meant that a force was approaching. It couldn't have been more Gallians because none of them would simply announce their presence like that. Well, unless they were directly under Damon's command and acting out on his orders. But it also couldn't be the Germans because they were miles away, building up their defenses back at the capital. And even if the Germans were going to attack them, they wouldn't do something foolish like actually announce they were here before they began their attack. Whoever it was, it wasn't either the Gallians or the Germans who sounded off that horn. And Welkin had a hunch as to who it might be. He got up from his seat and began making towards the direction of where they heard the horn sounding off. The Squad, acting on either instinct or curiosity, followed suit as they dropped their breakfast and followed closely behind.

* * *

At the Southern part of the camp, the two Gallian Regulars overlooking the makeshift entrance to the camps watched the dirt road leading into it, watching for any signs of the people who blew the horn. The two of them readied their weapons just in case it turned out to be the Germans instead of friendly units. And as the seconds passed on by, they heard the sounds of marching and of vehicles coming from down the road. The two Gallians couldn't see either through the dense foliage but from the sounds of it, they were getting close. Suddenly, appearing from behind the bend were the sight of marching soldiers, not of Gallia, nor Germania...but from the International Volunteers Brigade, the IVB had come back.

It was a mixture of French, Russian, British, and American troops marching in formation, weapons shouldered, with the IVB's complement of trucks, jeeps, and half-tracks filled with troops and supplies following not far behind along with whatever they managed to take from the Germans while they operated out of the Ardennes. The two Gallian Regulars got out of their way and let the column of over ten thousand soldiers and their vehicles merely march on straight into the Gallian encampment. As the IVB entered the camp, any Gallian in the area stopped what they did and turned to see the sight of the foreign troops they thought had left days ago, marching proudly into their camp, looking prepared to go into a fight.

Soon, they managed to find a space big enough for them to all gather in and began unloading the supplies from their vehicles. As they were starting that, a crowd of Gallians had begun to gather around them, stunned that the IVB was still here despite the fact that they all decided to leave Gallia days ago. Welkin and his squad squeezed their way through the crowd all the way to the front in order to see this. Once they saw the IVB before them, they felt as if their jaws hit the ground. They just couldn't believe what they were seeing. The IVB, despite showing that they had all the intentions of leaving Gallia for good and watching as the Germans solidified their hold over what remained of the land they hadn't conquered, the ten thousand men and women of America, Russia, Britain, and France had arrived to help them in retaking Randgriz.

Welkin then looked to see Major Blackadder, followed by Lieutenants Henri Defense, Samus Aran, Lara Croft, and Captain Dimitri Petrenko. Blackadder, with a grin upon his face as he approached Welkin, took off his officer's cap and tucked it under his arm before saying "Ah, Lieutenant Gunther. Pleasure to see you again. Wish the circumstances were better though."

"Major Blackadder. How...what are you doing here?" asked a still stunned Welkin, not sure how else to respond.

"Well we're here to help you. We've brought all our men, supplies, and whatever else we could scrounge up," answered Blackadder as he quickly pointed back to the loaded trucks and half-tracks being currently unloaded before looking back to Welkin.

"Why now? A few days ago you guys were more than happy to get the hell out of dodge and leave us alone," pointed out Alicia, wondering why they had a sudden change of heart. She too didn't understand how these people who wanted to leave and avoid the German military from bearing down on them were now suddenly in front of them bearing supplies and experienced troops that would no doubt help the mission to reclaim the capital from Lelouch.

"Well there are several answers to that actually. Which would you like to hear first?" replied Henri Defense.

"How about you just tell us before this conversation takes up our whole day?" inquired Rosie, crossing her arms and looking at the officer with an impatient glare as she wanted this whole talk to end and for the officers to just get to the point already before they wasted anymore of the precious time they have left.

"Well after you left, I ended up getting bombarded by Lieutenant Croft and Sergeant Marks who insisted that we should stay here," mentioned Blackadder, slowly turning his head to glare at Lara, who took a small step backwards, feeling a little uneasy from the glaring. Apparently she and Daniel had been trying to convince him so many times that they had begun to annoy him constantly.

"If there's one thing I know about Lara, she tends to pester people till she gets what she wants. Daniel...well he might punch you a little. But come on, their intentions were sincere," noted Jack, springing to his friends defense. Hearing those words caught Lara by surprise a little. A few days ago, she and Jack just had a very bad argument back at Fort Drakon over what had happened to their past engagement. To hear him suddenly jumping to her defense on the matter was a little surprising to say the least.

Turning his head back around to face Welkin and the group, Blackadder continued with "But they did have a point. If Gallia falls here, then the rest of Europa may follow suit. The Kaiser will have a large and vast supply of Ragnite which will allow him to fuel the Nazi war machine even further. They'd use Gallia as a staging point to conquer France and the rest of Western Europa. Then they'd move on to the Balkans and then perhaps to Russia. If we don't stop them here, then we're all doomed. And if stopping that means me and my men will have to risk their lives in this, then so be it."

"Oh so this isn't out of the goodness of your heart? Well that's just nice," said Rosie sarcastically.

"Like it or not, I'm doing this the Nazis from expanding any further," added Blackadder, seemingly ignoring her.

It was then that Blackadder held out his hand, waiting for Welkin to shake it in return as a gesture of cooperation between them. Welkin was still in shock over what was happening, but he managed to overcome it rather quickly and grabbed Blackadder's hand firmly and shook it before both parties eventually let go. Blackadder then spoke again, informing Welkin "My men and I are at your disposal Lieutenant Gunther. They'll follow you into the abyss if needed to."

"Welcome aboard Major. We could use all the help that we can get at the moment," complimented Welkin.

"Hey boss, not to break up this nice little bonding moment here, but shouldn't Lucina's men be back from scouting the city by now? I think we should go and find them," commented Largo, noting a bit of info that Welkin might have forgotten during this whole thing.

Welkin nodded in confirmation before replying with "Alright, get the other officers then. We'll all meet in the war tent. Time to see what we're up against."

* * *

_War Tent_

_Half an hour later_

Back at the tent, Welkin, along with the other officers from the previous meeting, along with those of the IVB, had come back to discuss what Lucina's agents had found out from their time in the city. They managed to ind a way into the city via the catacombs so that was the easy part. Surveying the defenses while remaining unnoticed was the hard part. Wasn't easy to law low in the city with the Nazis everywhere, infesting the city like little ants. They had to stick inside the ruined buildings and catacombs if they wanted to get past all the checkpoints and patrols. There were a few close calls resulted in some minor shootouts but they managed to get out of the city safely, with a few small bullet injuries, but nothing very serious. When they returned to Lucina, they had some interesting info for her to hear. And now, at this meeting, Lucina was divulging everything her men had managed to find out, starting with the one bit of info that she found pretty interesting.

"There are rebels fighting in the city?" asked Welkin, surprised to hear that there was a resistance group fighting in the capital against Lelouch's occupation. He thought that when the Black Prince took over, there was nothing left in the city that would of had the strength, nor the courage to oppose with via force of arms.

"From what my men found out, yes. They call themselves the "Randgriz Rebels". They're made up of what's left of the Randgriz Police Department, other civil and government organizations, and civilian volunteers. They're armed and are performing guerrilla warfare tactics against Lelouch's forces. So far they've managed to cause some damage, but it's not significant enough to do anything serious to Lelouch's efforts," explained Lucina, trying to tell them as much information as possible in order to make sense out of all of this. There was a lot of info that her men managed to get in this short span of time which wasn't the amount that they would normally get under circumstances such as this. She had a nagging feeling in her head that Lelouch may have purposely leaked this information to them but she tried to ignore it because there was little time for conspiracy theories for this sort of thing.

"If there's guys in the city fighting Lelouch, they could be pretty helpful when our attack begins. We can hit Lelouch from the front lines, while these rebels hit his forces from the rear to cause chaos," said Isabella, seeing an opportunity they can use for their upcoming fight.

"There's more though. Apparently when the Germans invaded the city, they used the catacombs in the process. They snuck into the castle, taking the nobility, the government, High Command, even the Princess and the Regent as prisoners. They're keeping them in the castle as prisoners while Cordelia and her uncle are kept in their rooms. Lelouch is in the castle as well, making it his new home and command center," further explained Lucina.

"He used the catacombs? How? There's few documents that show the full layout of the catacombs under the city and where to find them and they're all kept inside of Randgriz. How is this possible?" questioned Faldio, wondering how Lelouch could have been able to do that. Even though Randgriz endured two centuries of German occupation, the locations of the catacombs and the maps that layed out their positions were kept hidden from them by the Randgriz Royal Family out of fear that the Germans may use them to strengthen their hold ever tighter on the city. It shouldn't have been possible for Lelouch to even know about the catacombs, much less where to start in order to find the entrances. Perhaps there was some kind of small bits of info about them in Germania that Lelouch managed to find that helped him out.

Lucina explained to him "Apparently Lelouch had help from the inside."

"From my experience, whenever someone says that, it's never a good sign," muttered Lara, leaning forward onto the table when she said that.

"Let me guess, Lelouch paid off someone to just leave the door open for his goons to get in?" said Jack, suggesting a possible example of what might have happened.

"Pretty much. Lelouch paid off a member of the Royal Guards. She apparently just let the Germans in, for money," said Lucina, confirming Jack's suggestion, which caused some surprise among the Gallians to hear that a member of those trusted with the safety of the Randgriz Royal Family would willingly betray them to the Germans, and for money of all reasons. Whatever Lelouch must have paid this Guardsman, it must have been one hefty sum of money. Usually those in the Royal Guard were considered un-corruptible and unwilling to take a bribe of any kind that result in them betraying their charges. Whoever this person was, she certainly didn't have the same moral code of conduct that all members of the Royal Guard required in order to perform their duties. This woman, whoever she is, was definitely going to pay for her betrayal.

"I know I'm probably going to regret asking this but is there anything else we should know?" inquired Saber, feeling there was more to Lucina's report that she hadn't told them yet. And she was just about to find out that it was in fact true.

Nodding her head in agreement, Lucina mentioned "Apparently there's this group of collaborators working alongside Lelouch and his 'Gallian Reich'. They're armed and are working directly with the German troops within the city. They're made up of former prisoners of war or just from local volunteers."

"First Lelouch pays off a member of the Royal Guard, now there's a bunch of armed goons working alongside the Nazi army. What is with these people? When did we all just start siding with the Germans all of a sudden?" questioned Faldio, clearly taken offense to the fact that people were now seemingly joining the Nazi Reich en masse. Did honor and loyalty to the land where they were born suddenly mean nothing to them anymore? Did serving the Nazis, a regime built on slavery and brutality, where even their own people both despised and feared, seemed like the better alternative to serve than Gallia. Faldio above all just couldn't understand how they would do such a thing willingly.

"Just who exactly are these guys anyway?" wondered Read as to the identity of these collaborators. Lucina answered not with words, but by instead reaching into her pocket and pulling out something that her scouts had brought back from the city to show her. She took it out of her pocket and slammed it onto the table. Once she removed it from her hand and showed it, the item was revealed to be the armband of the Rexist Militia. Colored red and with their symbol printed in black, it was all that was needed to show them who these collaborators truly were. Welkin picked it up and showed it to the others, a little surprised to see that the Rexists were the ones responsible for collaborating with the German troops.

They had all heard of the the Rexist Party and of their leader, the reporter Léon Degrelle. They knew that the Rexists were a pro-Fascist political party with ties to the Nazi Regime in Germania. They weren't a major political party within Gallian politics but they had enough pull to rally supporters among a certain portion of the people who wanted a change in Gallia into a better country instead of the corrupt noble run government that they had before the war. And if the political party had turned into a militarized force, then the Nazis now had an ally among the Gallians. Hopefully they wouldn't be a major threat to their efforts when they tried to liberate the city from Lelouch.

"Okay. So Lelouch has a bunch of goons with guns at his disposal now. I'd ask if there's anything worse but I don't know how much worse it could get," muttered Jack as he pinched his brow in frustration.

"I'm afraid it's going to get worse. Our best estimates is that Lelouch has over a hundred thousand troops in the city," warned Lucina, informing them of the massive amount of enemy troops stationed within Randgriz. The moment she revealed that, the tent erupted in talk as the Gallian Lieutenants of both the Regulars and the Militia discussed among themselves about this new fact. They weren't expecting the Germans to have this many troops stationed within the city, at least nothing near this amount. Their forces at the time didn't yet make up half of that number, even with the addition of the IVB to their ranks. And if the Germans had these many troops, then they would no doubt have thousands of tanks, vehicles, and artillery cannons with them as well. This helped to show that the Gallians were no where near ready yet to take on the Black Prince. And every single officer in the Gallian ranks was gravely concerned about it with each one frantically talking about it.

"A hundred thousand men?!"

"This is madness! We can't take on that many!"

"I didn't sign up for this!"

These were all silenced by Welkin placing two fingers in his mouth and letting loose a high pitched whistle. The decibel level of the whistle was more than enough to silence the rowdy Gallian officers. By now they were shaken by the news and each were beginning to harbor doubts that this plan was even viable to work anymore. Welkin had to try and dissuade their fears before they would take root and jeopardize their efforts any further. He looked to them and informed them all "Look, I know that this doesn't sound good, but this changes nothing. We await for more troops, then commence our attack on the city."

"Seriously Welkin? This plan just went from sounding impossible to just pure insanity a few minutes ago. How on earth are we supposed to deal with a hundred thousand men?" questioned Jack, wondering if his friend had clearly lost his mind on this issue. He just didn't see how Welkin planned to take on over a hundred thousand German troops and expect the Gallians to win.

"I know this all sounds far fetched, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. Don't give up yet," assured Welkin, promising them that he knew precisely what he was doing. There wasn't much the others could do but hope that he _did_ know what he was doing. Because if he didn't...then they were all going to be sent home in pine boxes.

* * *

**And this chapter is done. Now the International Volunteers Brigade, the IVB, has officially returned and is going to back off Welkin and the Gallian military's operation to retake Randgriz. Hopefully their experience will come in handy in the days to come. And to add to their numbers, they come with some extra little goodies to help out the Gallians with. What are these little goodies you ask? Well, I'll tell you exactly in the next chapter. Just know that now, Welkin's little ragtag force now has over ten thousand experienced soldiers to add to their numbers.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	97. A Plan Develops

**Again, sorry for the long wait, things have been hectic here with college kicking up.**

* * *

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Later that day_

_Two Hours After Meeting in War Room_

Thanks to the IVB joining the Gallian force gathering in Amaranthine Forest, as well as the equipment they had brought with them, the Gallians were now significantly better equipped than they originally where when they began this endeavor. In addition to the extra manpower from the members of the IVB, they had also brought other essential supplies, gear, and vehicles to help out the Gallian cause. One of the major things that they had brought with them is extra gear like ammo pouches, canteens and such which were used to help equip some of the Militia and civilian volunteers that were lacking in this type of gear. Another thing they brought were crates of surplus helmets from all four nations. They had them kept in Fort Drakon in case there were helmets that got damaged in the field and the soldiers of the IVB needed a quick replacement. They handed them out to the Militia and civilians volunteers who painted them in Gallian colors and distributed them among themselves. These would come in handy when the fighting began so that they would at least be able to protect their heads from any German bullets that come their way. And finally, they also had some extra weapons and ammo which helped arm those lacking a weapon, causing the Militia to be armed with a mixture of Gallian, IVB, and captured German weaponry.

Another thing that the IVB brought with them was some captured German Panzers the IVB stole from them during the month of fighting in the Ardennes Forest. They consisted entirely of Panzer IV's since the Germans used them to guard some vital checkpoints which were pretty lightly guarded within the Ardennes. This made them all the more easy to steal from the Germans. The Gallians were glad to have these tanks as an addition to their arsenal. Since the Gallian Light Tanks, Tank Destroyers, and _Theimer_ heavy tanks weren't able to stand up to a German tank in a one on one fight unless they were close, having the Germans own tech and using it against them would be quite useful. And to make sure that no one confused their captured Panzer IV's for the enemies, they painted them in Gallian colors like the rest of their tanks as well as placed Gallian symbols to help distinct them from the German tanks any further. Hopefully these tanks will help give the Gallians some advantages in an urban warfare environment like Randgriz. Though no one had ever tried to take out a German tank with the exact same model.

Squad 7 managed to gain some of this gear for their own use. Mainly it was just items such as extra ammo pouches, weapons, and some helmets packed into crates and sent over to their camp site. Hector, Rosina, and Largo were in the process of opening these boxes via crowbars. After prying loose the lids that had been nailed shut, they first pulled out some British and French helmets and looked them over. Rosina kept on opening the boxes and found something interesting. It was a box of Soviet grenades but these seemed different than the normal grenades. Looking over one in her hand, she asked "What kind of grenade is this?"

"It's an AT grenade. It's designed to knock out a tank more or less," explained Largo, after looking over the Brodie helmet and tossing it back in the crate when he deemed that he didn't need it. He was correct on what the grenade's purpose was. They were designed in the last year of the Great War and during the Border Skirmishes as another way for infantry to take out tanks. Initially they were normal grenades that were bundled together but as time went on, the same power was able to be placed inside one handheld version. These grenades weighed more than the standard grenade due to the amount of charge that was placed into it, but it made up for it by packing a larger punch. It was designed to explode upon contact instead of after a delayed fuse like normal grenades. So whatever the grenade hit, it blew to smithereens...or just made a very large dent. They were effective against early tanks going into the mid to late twenties, but as armor got thicker, the AT grenades became only effective against light tanks and other smaller vehicles. It could still take out a larger tank if the thrower aimed for the engines or the Ragnite radiator. Otherwise, they would be best used to disable the tank by aiming at the turret or the tank treads. If the Gallians were smart on how they used these grenades, they could effectively limit the German's armored forces when fighting in narrow streets in Randgriz.

"I remember those things. The Soviets seemed to have a never ending supply of those things for their troops. They were giving them away like they were candy of something," commented Jack as he walked by the trio while carrying another crate with Rosie helping out. He had her help him with this because she was the only person available at the moment that would help him. Also, since Jack was a Sergeant, he had the ability to order her to help him. The two of them put down the crate and Jack grabbed one of the pry bars that the three Lancers had used before and set about opening the crate. It was a little harder for him to open the crate because he didn't have the same amount of strength as the Lancers, but he slowly managed to get it open. Once it was open, he lout at a triumphant laugh upon seeing what was inside before picking up what was inside: an American M20 "Super Bazooka" anti-tank launcher and holding it in his hands before saying "Now this is gonna be _very_ helpful. It's gonna be 'Bazooka Time' when we head into Randgriz."

"Bazooka?" inquired Rosie, raising an eyebrow upon hearing that strange word come out of Jack's mouth.

"Yeah it's what we called these things. Named after some instrument by a radio guy back home I think. Plus it's kind of fun to say. Bazooka!" explained Jack, before repeating the word with some enthusiasm and quirkiness when it came to the name. He just liked this thing and for how easily it could knock out an enemy tank if aimed at the right place. He had seen this being used against Soviet tanks, but now he wondered just how effective it would be when pitted against the armor of a German Panzer. That would be an interesting thing to see.

"Hey, by the way, where is Welkin anyway?" asked Isara, as she peaks her head out of the turret hatch of the _Edelweiss_ which was parked nearby. She was checking on something with the steering when she realized that Welkin was no where to be found and normally he was close by with the others of Squad 7. Now she was curious as to where he was now instead of here.

Jack cranked his head around to face her before reporting "He's with the other officers. I think they're trying to figure out some kind of plan to take back the city."

"Let's just hope it works. I'm not too keen on dying," chimed in Rosie, taking a seat on one of the crates and crossing her legs.

"Considering all the shit the boss has gotten us through, and with us all coming back alive every time, I'm willing to bet that won't be happening anytime soon. He'll get us all through this Rosie. No doubt in my mind," assured Largo as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and looked to see if there was still one left inside. However when he opened the pack, there wasn't a single one inside cause he had used up the entire pack during the recent string of battles. He mumbled to himself in frustration before crumpling up the box and stuffing it in his pocket. He did have one thing correct though. After everything Squad 7 had been through in the past few weeks since Welkin took command, they had been able to defy the impossible. They had defeated the German forces in every battle they've fought in, came back with every member still alive, and have bested two of Lelouch's own commanders as well as the 'Darcsen Demon' of the _Waffen SS_. At the rate that they were going, some of them were wondering if they managed to keep this up, what other feats could they accomplish next in this war.

* * *

At another point at the camp, while overlooking the soldiers of the IVB training the civilian volunteers in how to fight in an urban warfare environment, Welkin, along with Alicia, Faldio, Blackadder, and Isabella, and Lucina were looking over a large map of the city that was placed upon a few stacked crates to try and figure out a strategy for how they could take back the city from the Black Prince. Using chess pieces they managed to scrounge up from the abandoned towns and used the black pieces to show the location of German forces and fortified positions they set up to block their advances within the city while the white would be used to show the positions of Gallian forces as the battle goes on. It was Jack's idea. He told them that since Lelouch saw war as an elaborate game of chess, they should try and use these as to try and get inside his head to figure out what they would plan. At the time, it made some sense. They were using all the data that Lucina's people managed to uncover about Lelouch's defenses to help arrange all the pieces. And from what they could see when they were finished laying out all of the pieces is that it was a very well thought out and elaborate defense. Lelouch was taking every precaution to try and keep them from even entering the city. Fortified buildings, flak towers, barricades and more. In a few mere days, Lelouch had turned the ruined city in a fortress.

Since he was in Castle Randgriz, it was safe to assume that it was serving as his headquarters. Normally in a situation like this, since the Gallians still have some artillery and planes, they would try to take out the enemy commander before the battle began. However, it wasn't going to happen this time due to a number of factors. One was that Castle Randgriz was a symbol of Gallian pride. The fact that it remained undamaged throughout the course of the war so far helped to keep morale alive in the Regulars and the Militia. If they destroyed that, it would hurt the Gallians just as much as it would the Germans. Another was the threat of injuring or killing the prisoners kept inside the castle dungeons. Lelouch was holding Princess Cordelia, Wilhelm II, and all the remaining government and military officials inside those dungeons. If the Gallians took out the palace, they would effectively wipe out whatever leadership Gallia had left. So with the easy way to victory gone, the Gallians would have to fight this battle the hard way: fight the Germans and retake the city block by block until they reached the castle and kicked Lelouch out completely.

"Well. I think it's safe to say that we're completely buggered here," noted Blackadder, looking over what seems to be a solid defensive line. From his perspective, there was no way they would be able to gain a foothold in the city before the whole German Army would come pounding on their door. Add to the fact that if there were sentries placed on the wall surrounding the city, the Germans would be able to see them coming long before they would ever be able to get into the city, eliminating any chance of the element of surprise.

"There's always a way. We just need to find it and exploit it," encouraged Faldio, scanning the map intently as he had no intention of throwing in the towel. Not after all the effort they all went through to bring this army together.

"I agree with you there Faldio. But there isn't much here that we can work with. I don't even know how we're going to even set foot within the city," added Isabella, feeling the same as Faldio but also unable to see a way through like Major Blackadder couldn't.

Looking for a way through, Faldio looked to Lucina and suggested to her "What about the catacombs? Think we can move our troops through them to try and surprise the Germans inside the city?"

Lucina however, shook her head in disapproval before explaining "Not likely. The tunnels are still intact but pretty old and narrow so we'd have to move the troops through in small groups at a time. And the tunnels aren't sturdy enough to move anything bigger through like tank. We'd likely just end up collapsing the tunnel and burying ourselves within it. And the tunnel exits are so deep within the city that we'd be in pretty big danger by coming out that far into Lelouch's defenses. No, using the catacombs isn't an option for us."

With that option gone, they now had to figure out what they would do next. If they were going to be successful, then they would need to be able to gain a foothold onto the city before the Germans would be able to respond with enough force to come crashing down upon their heads. They just needed to figure out where they would place an assault on in order to do so. The main gates leading into the city were heavily fortified so it made a head long charge into the city by this method extremely difficult as it would leave them with a lot of casualties. Seeing this, Blackadder sighed and muttered "As I said before, we're completely buggered here."

"Maybe not," said Welkin suddenly, as he eyed something particularly interesting in the German defenses located near the city walls. The moment he said that, every officer gathered there slowly turned their heads and looked at him with a look of both surprise and confusion on their faces. They were curious as to how Welkin has so suddenly found a way in when they couldn't. They were hoping that whatever it was that he was thinking inside of that head of his, they were hoping that it was good.

"What are you talking about Welkin?" asked Alicia, wondering in her head where Welkin was going with this.

Pointing to the German defenses next to the city walls: the ones by the three gates and the Randgriz train station, before explaining "Take a look at his outer defenses. All his strength is centered on the gates. But if you look at the defenses at the station and compare it to those at the gates, it's much weaker in comparison."

"You're saying that the ten thousand Rexist militiamen placed at that station is 'weaker in comparison', Lieutenant Gunther?" inquired Major Blackadder.

"Maybe not. But I doubt the Rexists are as tough as the German soldiers. If we come through there, we just might be able to push them back far enough to establish a foothold in the city," further explained Welkin, trying to have them see his point of view here. After a moment of consideration, the other officers did see his point. The Rexists may have German support in terms of vehicles and uniforms, and many volunteers, but the group was in it's infancy and they weren't as well organized or trained as their German counterparts. If the Gallians and the IVB timed it right, they would be able to punch right through the Rexist Militia and their defenses before their German allies could rush to their aid.

"That could work. But the problem is how do we get past their defenses. We'll still meet resistance once we get through. Not to mention the amount of fuel and ammunition they're storing there could help them greatly," mentioned Lucina, informing them that the Rexists could still pose a threat if not handled carefully. The mention of the ammo and Ragnoline the Rexists had placed there gave Welkin an idea.

Looking to Major Blackadder, Welkin inquired to him "Major, how exactly did you get those tanks over here? The ones you captured from the Germans?"

"We used the train you used to get to Fort Drakon. There's a depot not far from the fort used to store train cars. We connected them to the train and loaded up the tanks. Then we moved them to the outskirts of the forest. The tracks run directly next to the forest. Why are you asking me this?" explained Blackadder before questioning the reasoning behind Welkin's question. He didn't know why the Lieutenant would be asking a question like that, but he was hoping that there was some reasoning behind it.

"That train of yours. If we add some touches to it the Germans will think it's one of theirs. We load it up with explosives and with a timer and then set it off towards the station. Once it explodes, it'll take the station, the fuel and ammo, and a lot of Rexists in the blast. We'll have our opening," explained Welkin, summing up his plan for getting them inside the city.

The moment he said that, the other officers could do nothing but stand there with a surprised gawking look upon their faces as they were completely unprepared for the audacity of this idea. Alicia, still somewhat surprised, remarked to herself that this is probably one of the craziest plans she had ever heard in her entire life. The amount of explosive that would be set off, combined with the fuel and ammo stored with the Rexists would be large enough to take down a good portion of them. But it also had the capability of demolishing a large section of the city wall with it. The explosion alone would be large and loud enough for the Germans to be completely aware of the Gallian presence and will cause them to scramble their forces immediately to counterattack. But on the other hand, if this plan went off as planned, it could help clear a path for the Gallians to take out the Rexists and establish a foothold within the city itself. That is...if everyone else would agree to this plan.

* * *

_Occupied Randgriz_

_Around the same time_

As the Germans were making the final additions to their defenses, Goebbels and Himmler had brought Lelouch and Kallen, who were escorted by several Teutonic Knights, to the shore of Lake Graz, near one of the gates to the Graz bridges because they had something to show them. Mainly it involved a final group of soldiers that Byzantium had personally sent to help reinforce their defenses in the city. Gobbels and Himmler didn't explain much to the new Archduke and Archduchess of Gallia about this unit except for what Byzantium instructed to tell them before these troops arrived. Only when they did would the duo be allowed to give them the full picture. However, the troops had not yet arrived and the group was beginning to get pretty impatient in waiting for them to arrive.

"They were supposed to be here half n hour ago Himmler. They're not exactly going to be making a good first impression for the Gallian Reich here," warned Goebbels as he took a look as his watch to see just how late those troops were.

"They won't get here any faster if you continue complaining about it. Just be patient. They'll arrive sooner or later," assured Himmler, leaning against the railing by the edge of the shore to the lake.

"What is so damn important about these men that you had to drag us out of the castle to see them?" questioned Lelouch, crossing his arms and looking at the two with a stern look.

"They're a new and elite unit that the Kaiser created a few years ago in secret. These soldiers operate independently of the _Wehrmacht_ and have spent the past few years being trained and equipped for the day that they would end up facing our enemies. The Kaiser has decided that this city would be an appropriate place to test these soldiers and see just how effective they are. He expects you to use them on the Gallians when the time comes," explained Himmler, not giving up any more information than he was required to before they all arrived.

A few minutes after he said that, they could see vehicles coming across the bridge as those soldiers had now finally arrived. The first three vehicles were Panzer IV tanks that were colored black with gold outlines and trimmings. And as the tanks got closer, the group could see that there was a red stripe running across the armored skirts of the Panzers and there was a symbol of a raven emblazoned upon the sides of the tanks. The same could be said for the other three vehicles, those being half-tracks, who bore the same designs. At first, they seemed like some kind of _SS_ unit but as they drew closer, there was no sign of any _SS_ symbol upon them which seemed all the more suspicious. These vehicles passed through the gates and turned towards the group before stopping on the street once they had reached them.

The soldiers in the half-tracks immediately disembarked from the back of their vehicles and rushed over into formation in order to present themselves to their superiors. The soldiers wore dark colored uniforms with gold highlights and markings. In addition to the standard German gear and weaponry that they had, they also wore some armored plating on them with a chest plate covering their chest and midsection with a faint white version of the raven symbol on the tanks etched into it. Aside from that, they also had some armor on their knees and on their boots to keep themselves from being shot in the foot. They also had a large backpack as well carrying some of their other essential supplies for when they would end up in a firefight such as Ragniad, extra ammo and other essentials. Finally, each of the soldiers had a hood covering their heads and they all wore an imposing skull like mask over their faces to conceal their identities. Just from looking at these soldiers, one could tell that they were very intimidating and probably meant business. They didn't appear to be _SS_ nor any unit belonging to the _Wehrmacht_ for that matter either. It made Lelouch and Kallen wonder just who these people were in the first place.

The officer in charge of this group walked over to Himmler and gave him a salute before announcing "Sir. Calamity Raven reporting for duty as ordered."

"Calamity Raven? What kind of name is that supposed to be?" asked Kallen, never having heard of any unit that went by that name before.

"They're a...unique unit that now serves the Reich. They aren't common knowledge yet and we weren't planning on them being known until now," explained Goebbels, leaning against the railing as he explained.

"What makes them so unique?" inquired Lelouch, his curiosity peeked by the mention of the word 'unique'.

Seeing an opportunity here, Himmler looked to the soldiers and instructed them to remove their hoods and masks of which they all complied with. The moment that they showed their true faces, Lelouch and Kallen were both surprised and utterly speechless at what they saw: every member of this Calamity Raven...was a Darcsen. This was a complete and utter surprise to the two for many obvious reasons. Darcsens were considered to be sub-human according to Nazi Ideology and they were supposedly nothing more than to be slaves in service of the Reich in order to make up for the Darcsen Calamity their ancestors supposedly unleashed. They weren't allowed to be part of the German Armed Forces, at least not en mass. Throughout German history there have been cases of lone foreigners and Darcsens of great skill being placed in German military forces. But these cases were still very rare and the circumstances for this varied. But to see an entire unit, perhaps more, made up entirely of Darcsens and which operates independently of the entire German Army is unheard of and has never been attempted. Yet here was this Calamity Raven, a German military unit comprised of nothing but Darcsens.

"What you see before you your Highness, is the future. For several years, my men have gone around the concentration camps and ghettos. They looked for Darcsens that were above average among their kind. Those that were shown to be smart, string, and more. We took them and brought them to a secret facility. We trained them in warfare, educated them, made them into model citizens. These men and women before you are the new model of Darcsens within the Imperial Germanian Reich. They...are the future, said Himmler, with an evil grin upon his face.

* * *

**Well this one was interesting. Calamity Raven has entered the field and Welkin has developed a plan in order to allow the army to break through into the city. Things continually get more and more interesting. At least for me cause I'm writing this. ****For those who don't know what Calamity Raven is, they're the main villains of Valkyria Chronicles III. They're an all Darcsen military unit fighting for the Empire during the Gallian Campaign. ****In this story, their origins are more complex. Aside from what was explained above, they will be explained later on as the story continues.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	98. Bombs, Generals, and 'Crimea'

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

"You want us to do _what_?!" cried Jack, after hearing what Welkin's plan was for giving the army access into Randgriz. Welkin and Alicia had brought Jack, Rosie, Isara, Largo, and the rest of Squad 7 to where the IVB had parked the train they used to transport some of their troops as well as their vehicles to help discuss the plan with them. To say that they thought that this time, Welkin's plan was truly and utterly crazy, would probably have been an understatement. This whole thing could go wrong in a whole number of ways. For one thing, the Germans could spot the ruse and open fire on the train, destroying it before it ever got close to the city itself. There was also the possibility that the train wouldn't be able to explode once it entered the city or explode before it entered due to the timer being faulty, bringing the plan to an end before it even began. A lot of things could go wrong in this plan cause it wasn't foolproof.

"We're going to be loading the train up with explosives and a timer before sending it straight at the station we left from. In one big blast we'll clear out the troops stationed there and carve an entrance for the army to break through and establish a foothold in the city," explained Welkin, trying to get them all to calm down, though it wasn't really working.

"Boss, this may be the craziest thing you've ever suggested. Heck, this makes the whole 'driving a tank through a river' plan back at Vasel seem like a cakewalk," objected Rosie, not liking this whole plan one bit.

"And besides, how are we even supposed to turn this thing into a bomb that big? Do we even have enough explosives for this boss?" inquired Largo, wondering if accomplishing such a task was even possible if not practical considering the resources available to them at the moment.

"We checked, and from what we can tell, we should have enough for this while making sure there's still enough for the rest of the army here will have enough. But still, we have to try and do this right otherwise it won't work," answered Alicia, trying to calm them all down, though it wasn't working.

"Okay, say for a moment we can even turn this thing into a bomb. How are we gonna get this close to the city with the Germans completely unaware that the thing is gonna blow up when it reaches them?" asked Jack, wanting answers to some more of the questions that no doubt the rest of the squad were thinking. In his head, Jack was hoping that Welkin would have some good answers for this. Because if he didn't...well...then right now would be a very good time to get concerned.

Welkin, looking around to his Squad, told them "Because I know that we can do it. Blackadder has given us the job of making this train into one big bomb. And I have no doubt that we can make this work."

"And how do you propose we do that?" asked Arianna, dusting off her stolen German infantry cap before putting it back on her head.

Welkin wasted no time in explaining. He walked over to her, slowly turned her around to face the train before explaining "You worked as an assistant to a train conductor before you joined Squad 7. You know trains inside and out. If anyone knows how to be able to store enough explosives on this thing, it's you."

Welkin did have a good point there. Arianna had spent years working on trains like this. She knew every single part of this train, where it went, what it did, and how to fix it all from her good memory. That and she knew just about every kind of compartment where they could place explosives and perhaps even hide them from any German forces if they got too suspicious. If anyone could tell this ragtag crew how to turn this into a makeshift bomb, then she was the one to tell them precisely how it's done. With a sigh, she straightened her cap before looking to Welkin and saying "Alright. I suppose I could do that."

"And what about the rest of us? What are we gonna do?" asked Leon, wondering what's going to happen next.

"We'll need explosives and a timer to finish this off. Wendy here is going to help set up the explosives while Mica here builds us a timer. The rest of us are going to make sure that all of this gets loaded onto the train and that it gets to Randgriz in one piece," further explained Welkin, going over the last few points of this plan. He chose Wendy and Mica for this because they were the best at what they did. Wendy knew more about explosives than anyone in the squad. And despite her somewhat...eccentric attitude towards it, she was still the best choice for this. As for Mica, he was the one in the squad that wanted everything to be perfect. A genuine perfectionist if you would. If anyone in this squad could construct a timer for this bomb that would cause it to go off at the exact moment that they needed it to go off on, it was him. Everyone else would assist as best as they could in order to help turn this train into the biggest makeshift bomb ever constructed in the history of modern warfare. A momentous task. Though Welkin was confident that his squad was up to the task of accomplishing it.

"He he...boom," muttered Wendy in pure excitement as she rubbed her hands in anticipation which caused everyone in the squad to be a little cautious about just how excited she was, feeling she may blow them all up in the process of making this bomb.

"Why do I have the strange feeling like we're going to regret this?" pondered Jack out loud as he took a step to his side, away from Cheslock who was standing next to him.

"Probably because you will at some point," added Rosie, who merely smirked at Jack's action with amusement. To her, seeing him act like that was pretty amusing to see and she was relishing every moment of his discomfort about this.

"Are you sure you want to do this boss? This is a lot you're asking of from us," asked Largo, curious if Welkin was actually going to go through with this plan.

Welkin, without hesitating for even a moment, answered in a confident tone of voice "I am. This this the only way we're going to get into Randgriz and take the fight to the German troops there."

The words took a bit to sink in with the rest of the Squad that was gathered here. They pondered over those words and figured that Welkin was probably right on the matter. They couldn't force their way into Randgriz by using conventional means of warfare. They would need to be pretty creative in order to get themselves past the first line of defense that Lelouch had set up to block them. Sending a train full of explosives at full speed into a railway station that's full of enemy troops as well as extra ammo and fuel, positioned directly next to the city wall, would definitely qualify as a 'creative' way to get themselves inside of Randgriz. It was a crazy plan, that was more than true. But then again, Welkin's crazy plan had kept them alive so far, and they always lead them to victory. So oddly, it stemmed to reason for them that this plan was about as likely to succeed along with all those he created in the past. With that in mind, Largo merely looked at Welkin and asked "So what are your orders?"

"Arianna will draw up how we should set up the bomb in the train. She'll tell us precisely where to put the explosives. Meanwhile, Wendy here will focus on how to build the bomb while Mica sets up the timer. The rest of us are going to look for everything they need in order to make this work. We got a lot of work ahead of us so for now let's just find what we need. Squad 7, move out," explained Welkin, telling the squad what to do next. Once he had explained it all to them they immediately scrambled in different directions in order to get this bomb completed as soon as possible. However, as they went about to complete this task, they were all completely unaware that they were secretly being watched from afar. And the people watching them, weren't exactly on their side.

* * *

A good distance away from Amaranthine Forest, and where Squad 7 was working on the train, there was a ruined windmill that sat on top of a hill overlooking the site. Like many other buildings in Gallia, it was hit by the war and much of the structure was blown apart thanks to German ordinance scoring a direct hit on the building. However, there was still enough of the building standing for it to be used for other purposes such as it being used as a small outpost where two soldiers could keep an eye on anything within the surrounding area. And that was exactly what was going on...but it wasn't Gallian soldiers that were stationed in that ruined windmill.

Looking at Squad 7 work through a pair of high powered binoculars, a German scout, along with his radioman were watching what was happening with great interest, making sure to not give away their position at the same time. They had set up camp in the ruined windmill on Lelouch's orders to keep an eye out on the Gallians and inform him of any interesting developments such as if they moved out of the forest and began making their way to Randgriz. He instructed them to also keep out of sight to avoid alerting the Gallians that they were being watched. To that end, the scouts brought along some modified camouflage coverings to help conceal their small camp within the ruined windmill which consisted of two tents and the Enigma coding machine set up near some displaced stones. They had placed their vehicles, a pair of BMW R75 motorcycles, minus the side carriage, were parked behind the ruined windmill to conceal them from being discovered as well as able to be used in the Germans if they needed to get away fast. Meanwhile, the two German scouts were watching Squad 7 gather what looked like explosives and other miscellaneous parts and gathering them near the train. The Germans couldn't tell exactly what they were doing but they could come up with a few guesses as to what it was.

The German scout, putting down the binoculars, looked to his radioman and told him to send a message back to the capital. The radioman nodded in agreement before heading towards the radio and kneeling beside it as he worked. Turning some dials and pushing a few buttons before putting on the headset, the German managed to get the Enigma coding machine they had and send the message back to his superiors back at Randgriz, the capital of the Gallian Reich.

_***Scout Team 'Rook' to Randgriz***_

_***Gallian military camp in sight and under observation***_

_***Seventh Platoon of Militia's Third Regiment spotted***_

_***Explosives and other supplies being gathered near parked train on Ardennes Rail Line***_

_***Will continue to observe and report on findings***_

_***Scout Team 'Rook', out***_

One he was finished, the radioman went back over to where his comrade was and the two of them continued to monitor the Gallians and the activities of Squad 7. As for their message they would leave the decision on what course of action to take in response to this up to their leaders. These two German soldiers would simply do their jobs and monitor the Gallians from a safe distance away and await for further orders from their superiors if they ever arrive.

* * *

_Later that day, at dusk_

_On the USS Enterprise, docked with Task Force Valiant_

_1925 hours (7:25 pm)_

As night fell upon another day, the forces belonging to _Task Force Valiant_ were still docked in the waters in between Ireland and England. To keep out any German U-boat or scout ship that would veer to close and expose their position, several squadrons of British Royal Navy submarines were patrolling both south and north of the fleet, keeping an eye out for any enemy ship that may enter the area and give the fleet a heads up if they did show up. For now, there was no sign of any German ships near the area, nor any that had been sighted anywhere else along the shoreline or in the English Channel. So for now it was safe for the combined British, French, American, and Russian forces to assume that they were in the clear for now. Though some would be quick to think that such security measures would be seen as being paranoid, the commanders of _Task Force Valiant_ weren't taking any chances in their position being discovered and a large group of German U-boats being sent in order to sink such a large enticing group of targets. After all, any large military force being assembled by four world powers was something that no nation shouldn't be wary of. So it was better to be safe than sorry on this occasion.

In the meantime, _Task Force Valiant_ was still being assembled with the adequate number of ground, air, and sea forces it would need to counter the German war machine when they set sail for Gallia and help them free the country...that is, if the Gallians were able to liberate their capital from the Black Prince. There was some talk among the soldiers that they would be sent in regardless of whether the Gallians managed to or failed to take back Randgriz. Even so, they still needed a lot more men, vehicles, and material before they would even begin to set sail over to Gallia. They needed to set up their logistics, develop a battle plan, and much more. These details would be left in the hands of the main commanders of _Task Force Valiant_. On the _USS Enterprise_, these four commanders, one for each of the four nations whose military forces make up _Task Force Valiant_, were currently discussing these in the board room loaned to them by the Captain of the carrier. Looking over an assortment of maps, charts, data and more they planned out their strategy and what they should do next.

The four commanders present at these meeting were lead by General Dwight D. Eisenhower who was to lead not only the American forces, but also the entirety of _Task Force Valiant_ as it'a appointed Commander-in-Chief. Along with him was Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery who was leading the British forces, General Charles de Gaulle for the French forces, and finally General Georgy Zhukov who was placed in charge of the Russian forces present here. Each of them were chosen to be leaders of this task force because they possessed the necessary experience and talent that was needed to help combat the German forces.

Bernard Montgomery, affectionately called 'Monty' by his troops, was a forty-eight year old Field Marshal in the British Army and had been serving in it since the day he enlisted back in 1908. During the Great War the British served alongside the Gallians in several major battles during the war, with Montgomery playing a role in two important ones back then. He fought in the First Battle of Ypers back in 1914, and then in the infamous and bloody Battle of Passchendaele three years later in 1917. Once the war ended, he briefly served with British forces who occupied the Ruhr Valley in Germania for a few months after the Treaty of Versailles had been signed. Later on he served with British Forces who quelled the Irish Republican Army back in the early 1920's, bringing an end to another attempt of Irish independence from Great Britain. Ever since then he's been serving as a member of the Chiefs of Staff for the British military before being called to help lead _Task Force Valiant_.

Next was Charles de Gualle, the forty-five year old General and commander of the French forces assembled here in Dublin. Like Montgomery, he had served in the Great War as well, fighting in the First Battle of the Marne and at Verdun where he was captured by German forces. He would spend the rest of the war in confinement, despite several escape attempts, and was eventually released from the German POW camp when the Great War officially came to an end. After he was released, he then returned to France and steadily rose up the ranks to become a General. Unlike most Generals, he knew that relying on the Maginot Line would not be enough to keep the Germans out of France completely if another war would start. This set him at odds a bit with other members of French military.

Then finally there was Georgy Zhukov, the thirty-nine year old General in charge of the Soviet forces in _Task Force Valiant_. Zhukov was born in a poverty stricken family during the final decades of Imperial Russia. He enlisted in the Imperial Russian Army back in 1915 and served firstly in the cavalry before becoming an officer in the infantry corps. During the October Revolution that saw the Bolsheviks seize power in Russia, he willingly joined the party and serving in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. Later on, he took part in the Soviet Invasion of Alaska back in 1932, supervising the initial advances before being sent to look after the Red Line, a group of fortifications that were to defend Eastern Russia from an American Invasion. However, despite his efforts, it failed to keep the Americans from launching their invasion a year later in 1933. Despite this, he managed to stage some defensive actions that helped buy time for other elements of the Soviet forces to retreat before they were effectively destroyed by the Americans. Now he was serving alongside the people who his people were at war with less than a year ago.

These four men were now in charge of leading this task force and currently they were trying to come up with a plan of action. At first, their priority was which route by sea they would take in order to get there, via the English Channel to the South or to head North, swing around Scotland before heading to Gallia through the North Sea.

"The English Channel is the quickest route for us. It'll save us time and get our forces into Gallia quickly," commented Zhukov, who was in favor of using the English Channel route.

"It's the fastest but not the safest. The channel is too narrow in between Dover and Calais. The number of ships we have won't be able to fit through and they'll clog the channel. The German fleet blockading the Gallian coast will no doubt know this. They'll blow us out of the water before we can even get our ships out of that mess. We need to go North," said de Gualle, disagreeing completely with that notion and wanting to try going the safer route.

"That will take longer and the Gallians don't have that much time. The Northern path as well as the North Sea gives us the chance to surprise the Germans by coming down there and hitting their fleet head on. They set up the fleet to blockade the coast, not repel an invasion. We have the advantage there," added Montgomery.

Zhukov objected to it and argued "German U-boats have been known to conduct random sweeps of the North Sea. In open water they would spot us and sink us before we even got close to Gallia. We're too vulnerable if the fleet moves in the open."

"We'd also be a big target with us all squeezed together in the English Channel," pointed out Montgomery.

"Enough. This arguing is getting us nowhere. If we don't come to an agreement on something, then everything we've done so far will be for nothing," declared Eisenhower, bringing his colleagues bickering to an abrupt and sudden end. The three other officers involved quickly stopped their argument and allowed themselves a few moments to cool their heads before they would go any further into this meeting. They would all need to agree on a plan of action before they would do anything. But it was hard for any of them to agree on anything pretty much.

"Look, even if we chose which route to choose, we don't know if there's any German U-boats in the area. If we knew about the German naval positions in the region we could plan this better but we don't have any way of finding that out," complained de Gualle, pointing out their lack of any hard Intel on the Germans.

With a smile however, Eisenhower looked to them and said "Actually, I think we do have a way of finding out. The OSS has an agent of their deeply embedded in Germania, code name "Crimea". He can help us."

Slowly that information began to sink in with his three fellow officers as they turned their heads to face him. The code name of this OSS agent had crossed each of their deck numerous times in the past. Not much was known about this agent. Who he was, where he came from, or what he looked like. It was as if the man didn't even exist until a few years ago when the first mention of this agent popped up in 1932. The OSS did a good job making sure that their agents identity was a mystery to anyone whom would want to discover this agent. Not even General Eisenhower knew precisely who this infamous agent was. But he had proven that he was extremely good at his job. He had managed to get himself deeply embedded into the German hierarchy, earning enough trust to keep anyone from second guessing him. The man had provided the U.S. with a lot of valuable intelligence on German plans and movements, even giving some information to other nations during the Border Skirmishes as well. The German Inquisition had placed the capture of this agent to be one of their top priorities, even offering a large reward for anyone with information that will lead to the capture of this agent. However, in the three years since Crimea appeared, not once has the Inquisition come close to capturing him. If anyone could get them the information they needed, it was this agent.

"This agent of yours. How do you plan on contacting him? Do you even know where he is?" inquired Zhukov, wondering if this option was even possible.

"Perhaps. I have an old friend in the OSS. He can set us up with a connection. For now, we wait for a few more days. Gather up our troops, and coordinate our efforts. We're going to need to be prepared before we move out," answered Eisenhower. It would take some time before they got the info they would need from Crimea. Until then they would continue to gather up their forces and prepare some more for this operation. It was the least they could do until they got the information.

"Agreed. Let's hope he can get it for us," commented Montgomery.

"The key word is 'if'. If he can get it to us," added de Gaulle, a little hesitant that it was possible to even acquire this data.

* * *

**Once again things get interesting. The Sevens prepare to turn a large train into a makeshift bomb, and _Task Force Valiant_ ends up looking for information from an infamous Office of Strategic Services spy known as 'Crimea'. Another interesting development is the four Generals who are leading this group, with all of them famous Generals from the WWII period: Eisenhower, Montgomery, de Gaulle, and Zhukov.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	99. Edy, Homer, Walter, and Jann II

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_April 27, 1935_

_Amaranthine Forest_

_1900 hours (7:00 pm)_

Squad 7 is continually gathering munitions and other explosives to use for the train. Currently, after searching through the entire camp, looking for spare munitions, they only managed to find enough to arm only one of the train cars out of the eight passenger cars that came with the locomotive. It was a mere fraction of what they could scrounge up because most of the ammo in the camp would have to be used for making this bomb. Welkin, not expecting this, would have to figure out just how they would be able to get the amount they would need in order to make this bomb. As for now, they would merely have the explosives sorted, catalog what they have assembled, and then start with loading them up onto the train. Welkin already had sorted out members of the Squad to do the task, and having them work in shifts so that they would eventually get their sleep some time now, Welkin was having Jack, Edy, Homer, Walter, and Jann move the crates of explosives over to the train so that they would start to load them up into the first passenger car the next day. What sounded like an easy task was soon turning into a very annoying one for Jack due to one particular person: Edy.

As they were moving the crates, the four of them started having a conversation about any crushes they had growing up. Homer told them that he really didn't have anyone like that growing up compared to the many men Jann had crushes on. As for Jack, he jokingly remarked about how that sounded a bit like one of his older brothers who was a big flirt with the ladies growing up. Jack made the mistake about making a comment on how if he was here, he would instantly flirt with Rosie cause she was, in Jack's words 'his type of lady'. And Edy of course, took offense to that and was complaining to Jack non-stop about the issue. He didn't know what her problem with Rosie was precisely, but she apparently felt that she was a rival to the red headed singer...even though the rivalry was pretty much one sided.

"I'm just saying that I'm just as pretty as Rosie. I can get just as many guys as her in fact," complained Edy, telling this to Jack as he moved another crate of explosives with Homer, trying to block out her rantings.

And as the two of them put down the crate, Jack turned to look at Edy. And with an irritated look upon his face, he flatly questioned Edy "And why pray, are you even telling me this? I don't really care what you think about this."

"It matters because I'm better than her and I'm sick and tired of-" started Edy but before she could finish her sentence, Jack held up his hand to her face, signalling for her to shut the hell up. He wasn't really in the mood for this and if he had to listen to another minute of Edy's talk about her and Rosie then he was going to tie her up and put a gag in her mouth just so he wouldn't have to listen to her anymore. The woman seemed to have a habit on getting on others nerves like she had a habit of it. At least, in Jack's opinion she did. He stressed the situation by telling her in a stern voice "Not. Another. Word."

"I'd listen to him if I were you Edy. I don't think the kid's joking with you," added Walter as he put down another crate.

Seeing how serious he was, it was all that Edy needed to stop talking. However the same could not be said about the others. Homer was the one to talk next, telling Edy "Well, I think you're great Edy if you wanted to hear that."

"Aw, thanks Homer. As a tribute, how about I amaze you darlings with a little song?" asked Edy, giving a kind of pose of a self-absorbed diva when she asked her question, acting as if this was her moment or something.

"Oh, a song. Now that's just the perfect thing I need right now. Go ahead sweetie," encouraged Jann, excited for the prospect of listening to a song. He quickly grabbed a small box from the pile and sat on it, eager to listen with Homer doing the same.

"I can do with a song. Might make this job go by faster," noted Walter as he leaned up against the train in order to listen.

Jack on the other hand, didn't do that. He merely turned to look at Edy with a raised eyebrow when he heard her say she would sing a song. It was then that he officially decided that Edy was truly and utterly a self-absorbed little diva. And it seemed that she was all too self assured that she could sing as well as Rosie. He didn't care if this woman _could_ even sing as well, he just didn't understand why she was wanting to sing now of all times. He simply looked at Edy and flatly asked her "You're going to sing a song? Now? Seriously?"

"Why yes. I'll blow you away with my amazing singing. If Rosie can do it, then I can do it as well," said a now cheery and very positive Edy, gesturing for Jack to take a seat as well. She stood there in a little staring contest with Jack to see if he would be able to indulge Edy with this little show. At first, Jack didn't exactly see the point in doing this. But he did figure that is he did this just once, maybe she would stop.

So with a heavy sigh, he reluctantly sat down on one of the nearby crates before saying to Edy "Fine. Blow me away then. Sing something from the top of your head."

_"I didn't know at that exact moment, but I had just made a very huge mistake. I used to think that dying from a bullet to the head or from an explosion would probably be the absolute worst thing that could happen to me in this job. What I was about to hear next...completely changed my mind." - Jack Lawrence_

Edy wasted no time in singing a little tune to her head. Within moments, all four members of Edy's audience had their hands covering their ears as they tried to desperately block out the ear shattering noise that was Edy's singing voice. The sound was so terrible that is was reminiscent to nails being scratched on a chalkboard. There was no doubt that the young woman was tone deaf but apparently she had absolutely no clue that she was as she just kept on singing. Oblivious to the fact that her terrible singing was damaging the eardrums of her four squad mates. They tried as best as they could to block out the sound, but no matter what they did, Edy's terrible singing voice was causing excruciating pain to their hearing to the point where they almost considered this to be torture. And all the while this was happening, Jack managed to mutter out these words through all the pain "God, if you're listening, please show some mercy here."

* * *

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	100. The Storm Approaches

**The hundredth chapter. Quite a milestone. I'll admit, this is impressive.**

* * *

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

_Later that day_

_Center of Amaranthine Forest Camp_

After doing what they could with the train with what little they could scrounge up, Squad 7 returned to the center of the Gallian camp in the Amaranthine Forest to try and catch some sleep. When they arrived, they saw many other Gallian Regulars and Militiamen up as well. Many of them were doing what they could to pass the time and try to keep their spirits alive despite what they were up against. They were either talking with friends by the campfire, sing songs, tell each other jokes, drink spirits, or dance with each other. It was all that they could do to make sure that they weren't worried about facing whatever the Germans have in store for them. The combined noise was loud, but thankfully it wasn't loud enough for them to be heard all the way to Randgriz, which helped the Gallians maintain some security over the precise location of their camp within the forest. So they could all enjoy this moment for it would probably be the last if this whole venture ended in a complete and utter failure.

Welkin figured that it was probably best for the Squad to do the same. It would probably do them some good in case this plan of his doesn't pan out. So there they were, huddled around the campfire, having fun with each other like it may be their last time. And despite the short time their squad had been together, each of the members of Squad 7 have managed to get rather close to each other. This helped to make the squad more than just a bunch of complete strangers like when they originally began. It helped build cohesion, unity, and encouraged them to work together better on the battlefield. In such a short time, they had already managed to come together as a team...though there were still some kinks for them to work on. For now, they were just going to enjoy this time, which at the moment they were all listening to some amusing stories over a bunch of unrelated events that had occurred over the past couple of days.

"And the American here, in his infinite wisdom, decided to give the Germans the finger which just pissed them off even more," sputtered out Rosie in between her laughs while pointing to Jack who was siting next to her. She had a bottle of whiskey in her hands and her attitude suggested that she was a little tipsy from all the alcohol she had just drank, yet she was still sober enough to know what was going on. And all the while, she was regaling how Jack made their jobs all the more harder back during the mission to take out the supply bases in the Ardennes. Most of the Squad laughed at that which was a surprise considering that Jack's actions made the mission a bit harder than it was supposed to.

"Wait, seriously? That's what you did back there?" inquired Alicia when she was done laughing, wondering if this was true. She was with Faldio, Lucina, and their units during the battle. She didn't see much of the fighting that the rest of Squad 7 did on the main road back in the Ardennes.

Rubbing the back of his head, Jack, who was leaning against a tree, admitted "Yeah. But I did say I was sorry."

"Yeah, like that meant something at the time," noted Ted.

"Welkin said we had to get their attention by getting them angry. And I did something to make them pretty angry. Granted the results weren't...exactly what I expected. But I did get their attention," said Jack, trying to defend himself in the best way that he could: by improvising a few excuses. All of which got shot down immediately when Welkin spoke up next.

"I'll admit that I told you to make them angry. However, I didn't mean for you to make them that angry. You pretty much brought the whole German Army down on our heads," corrected Welkin, siting in between Alicia and Isara.

"Look, I have to make your life difficult Welkin, or you'll forget all about what's happening and focus on some plant. I'm providing you with a service. One that's free of charge I might add. So you might want to be grateful," pointed out Jack in a humorous tone. Even though Jack did make their mission all the more crazy, it was definitely better than listening to another one of Welkin's little 'nature talks'. God knows the man could go on forever despite being told when to stop...if he even bothered to listen in the first place. Jack's method of doing so was in his view, both more entertaining, and also much more interactive...depending on how one would look at it.

"You know Jack. Strange enough, I feel like you're going to be the death of us one day. No offense," commented Isara, though meaning no ill will towards Jack by that comment.

Jack merely stood there with an understanding look on his face before admitting "None taken. You're not exactly the first person to say that to me kiddo."

"Oh really? I'm almost curious as to who else said that," mentioned Largo, his curiosity peaked by Jack's words. Even though he said he was interested, Largo wasn't exactly in the mood to hear the full list. Though Jack didn't exactly know that at the moment.

Counting the number of people with his fingers, Jack listed them all by saying "My ex-fiance, my old squad and my commanding officer, Lelouch, my father, my siblings-"

"We get it," said the whole squad in unison which successfully got Jack to stop and get the picture. He was immediately silent afterwards as the conversation continued, this time with Catherine looking to Welkin and asking him something that she had been thinking about for a while now.

"Lieutenant. If we actually take back the city. What are ya plannin to do ta celebrate?" she asked, opening her canteen and taking a swig from it.

"Like yeah LT. I could go for a party after we kick out the Prince," added Cherry, quite excited about the prospect of a celebration. Welkin was a little surprised by this question because he wasn't really planning on what they would do _after_ they took back Randgriz. Up until now, he and the others were focusing primarily on just taking the city in general. It was a daunting task and it was one that didn't leave much time for planning a celebration if there was a good chance that they wouldn't succeed. But then again, if they actually did succeed in this task, then it would definitely be worthy of some kind of celebration. The question was where to do it. And after a few seconds, Welkin came up with an idea for a place.

Back when he was attending Randgriz University, Faldio and the others would drag him off to this place in Randgriz called _The Hanged Man_. It was a combination of a bar, restaurant, and a night club that was a rather popular place before the war started, especially for students from the university which made it a hangout spot. There, they would eat, drink, and dance on the dance floor whenever they had the time to do so. Faldio and Jack would normally be there at times after class with them usually having to drag Welkin there, telling him to 'let loose and have some fun' instead of just burying himself in his books and in studying some plants or some type of bug. After a few times, Welkin had gotten used to the place. If it was still standing, then maybe the Squad could head over there and celebrate a little. But, first things first. They had to take back the city...and then they would celebrate.

"I might have a few ideas lined up for that. But let's just focus on the task at hand before we get there," admitted Welkin, causing others in the squad to wonder what it was that he had planned. They didn't know if this was going to be a good idea or one that would involve nature in some form. But then again, if any of them were still standing once the battle was over, they probably wouldn't care where the party would be if there was some kind of celebrating. And as they thought of that, Knute came up with an idea that was even more enticing.

"Hey, how about this? If we win this, we should get something extra as well. How about a little song from our resident starlet eh?" suggested to Knute, pointing directly at Rosie. The minute Rosie heard that, it stirred her out of her buzzed stupor and made her sit up straight. Even though she had downed some alcohol she was still pretty aware of what was going on and Knute's suggestion was enough to get her attention. It had been a while since it had been over a month and a half since she last sang to any kind of audience back at the bar in Ghirlandaio city. When she fled the city and volunteered with the Militia, she wasn't exactly willing to sing during the middle of the war. But before she could object, the air was suddenly filled with other members of the squad commenting on the idea and saying how it was a good idea, accept for Edy of course who absolutely didn't agree with it at all.

"What about me? I can sing for all you darlings," she said in a confident tone. She was immediately set upon by looks from Walter, Homer, Jann, and Jack who said in unison 'NO!', which caused Edy to jump a little bit, being startled by their response.

"What's wrong with Edy's singing?" asked Isara, wondering why they had a problem with it.

"Well the thing is-" started off Homer before catching a glare from Edy which made him shut up rather quickly.

"Let's just say this. Edy's okay at being a soldier. But when it comes to singing...let's just say nails on a chalkboard sound better than her," said Jack to sum up the point and being blunt about it.

Offended by his remark, Edy looks to him and complains "I AM NOT THAT TERRIBLE!"

"Are you kidding? You're so tone deaf that if we placed a bunch of loudspeakers in front of Randgriz, turned up the volume all the way and had you sing...your voice would annoy every German soldier there that they would be begging to leave just so they wouldn't be able to hear you," countered Jack, his explanation getting a good laugh out of everyone and made Edy stay in her seat and pout like an upset child who didn't get her way.

"You know, that's such a terrible idea that it may actually work," added Walter with a chuckle.

After that, Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pocket watch. Opening it and looking at the time, he saw that it was his turn to be a sentry near the eastern edges of the forest to make sure that no German soldiers got close to the forest. putting the watch back in his pocket, Jack leaned down and picked up the M5A2 Folsom Carbine that he had leaning on the tree and slung it over his shoulder. So while the Squad was busy talking, he merely turned around and began making his way to the forest outskirts. As he marched over there, in his mind he hoped that the Germans wouldn't try anything tonight.

* * *

About ten minutes later, Jack managed to arrive at his destination. There was a small foxhole dug into a ridge at the edge of the forest. There were a few small branches placed in front to try and help conceal it's position. From that position, a pair of sentries could see for a few miles and to a nearby village. There were several other sentry posts like this across the Eastern edges of the forest to provide an early warning system against Lelouch's forces getting close. It was as the central lookout point that Jack and Lara were going to be stationed at for the night, each of them taking turns as lookout while the other slept for a few hours. Lara was already there in the foxhole, with her Lee-Enfield rifle slung over her shoulder and looking at the countryside through her binoculars for any sign of trouble. She lowered her binoculars and looked behind her when she heard footsteps behind her before noticing Jack approach and jump down into

The two of them hadn't really talked to each other since the whole revelation between them a few days ago as to why Lara broke off their engagement almost a year ago. So one could say that it wasn't exactly settled between the two of them. Both of them wanted to fix this, but neither of them was sure which one would be the one to start it. Only time would tell if either of them would be able to mend what was broken.

"See anything out there?" asked Jack, now standing next to her, yet avoiding eye contact.

"Nothing so far. It's pretty much been quiet for now," replied Lara as he put down her binoculars and fixed her cap, making sure to avoid eye contact with Jack. The tension between them was so thick that one could cut it with a hot knife. Neither of them said anything to each other, much less look at each other, instead letting the awkward silence between them prevail. All these nervous feelings and unfinished thoughts about their relationship were trying to burst through but the duo's nervousness was merely prevent it from doing so. Suddenly, the two of them looked at each other and bluntly said at the same time 'I'm sorry' before realizing what they said and slowly turning their heads away in embarrassment. Jack was rubbing the back of his head while Lara tried to hide her blushing cheeks. It took them a few seconds for them to gather up he courage to look at each other again.

"Look Lara...I'm...I'm sorry for what I said to you back at the Fort," admitted Jack, apologizing for all those things he said to her.

"You don't have to apologize to me Jack," assured Lara, shaking her head as she didn't think his apology was necessary.

But Jack wasn't going to stop there as he said to her "No, I need to say this. What I said back there was insensitive, hurtful, and...well, not something that I'm proud of to be honest. I was angry, I felt hurt,...and I didn't have the right to take it out on you. I...I'm sorry."

Hearing those words come out of Jack's mouth was bittersweet for Lara. On one hand, she was happy to hear Jack admit that he was wrong in his judgement. But on the other hand, it hurt her heart seeing the man she once loved, seeing that he was still hurt over the decision that _she_ made almost a year ago and for the reasons that made sense to her at the time back then. Though now...now things weren't as clear to her. She didn't know what was right anymore. Now all she felt inside was regret for all that she had done. Every minute that this wasn't fixed...it hurt her a bit inside. She had to fix things between her and Jack or else this feeling...this painful feeling in her chest wouldn't go away.

"No...No Jack. I'm sorry. I'm the one who should be apologizing. I should have told you the truth to begin with. It might have made things easier...for both of us," muttered Lara, a deep sad tone of emotion in her voice as she slowly turned her head back towards the distance, not sure she could look at Jack while she apologized. As she did this, a few tears began to form in her eyes from all the emotion flooding through.

Jack, not wanting to leave it at this, gently cupped her cheek and turned her towards him, seeing the tears now beginning to flow down her cheeks. He calmly said to her "Hey, what do you have to be sorry for?"

It took a few seconds for Lara to wipe the tears from her cheeks before telling Jack "Because O never told you the truth. I should have from the beginning. I just...I don't know how to tell you."

"Yeah, I guess so," commented Jack, letting out a sigh before continuing with "Though to be fair I doubt I was ever easy to talk to."

Those words managed to get a chuckle out of Lara, helping to brighten her mood a bit. Before she knew it, she and Jack soon sat down together in the foxhole, their backs against the dirt walls, and both of them looking up at the stars. A momentary distraction to their duties, but a necessary one in order to mend their relationship. Lara continued from Jack's comment by adding "Yeah. But then again, you weren't the easiest guy to deal with. I guess that's what I liked about you."

"Liked me well enough to say 'yes' when I asked you to marry me," replied Jack with a smile, remembering that moment.

"Yeah. Yeah I did. Do you think it would have worked out? You and me?" inquired Lara, wanting to know Jack's opinion on the life they would have had if she hadn't of broken off their engagement. Would they have had a nice house? Live a quiet life out in the country? Maybe have one or two kids running around the place? It was something to consider.

It didn't take long for Jack to give her his answer, replying "Maybe. But it wouldn't be pretty. We probably would have drove each other crazy all the time. Things would have been different then they are now. You and I would either be in London or back in America instead of here. While the idea of home does sound nice, it feels good to be here in the fight again. Feels like I'm making a difference here. And I'll admit: Welkin and his crew of misfits are beginning to grow on me."

Lara, feeling inquisitive thanks to Jack's words, turns to look at him and asks "You like Gallia don't you?"

"Well it's a decent place. I mean, aside from the corrupt officials, idiotic generals, common guy having absolutely no say, and the recent increase of Nazis...it's okay I guess," joked Jack, earning another smile from Lara. Over the time he's been here, he's come to admire this place. Despite the country's flaws, there was something about this place...something that made it mean something to the people who lived in it. These people have been attacked, invaded, conquered, and liberated many times throughout their history. And after each time, they endured and preserve what's always been themselves: their identity as a people. If they can do that despite the odds against them, then they can certainly rise to the challenge here and best it with everything they've got. No question about it.

"Maybe. Still though, they did try to frame you as a German spy you know," said Lara, reminding him of his trial.

"To be fair, I may have set myself up for that. And besides, there's assholes everywhere. The one in charge of the Gallian Army being a big one. I'm just glad you showed up with my father when you did. Wouldn't be alive if you didn't," said Jack, making sure to note that he was grateful for what she did.

Lara took off her cap before replying with "Well I was always saving your ass so to me it was like a walk through memory lane."

Now it was Jack's turn to let out a chuckle to this. He had to admit, it was nice to talk to Lara again like this. He'd forgotten how much fun the two of them had in these little conversations. Maybe it was time to put all this bad blood behind them. There wasn't much sense in holding it in any longer after having this little chat. Seemed like the appropriate thing to do at the time. With that in mind, Jack started to get up and told Lara "I'll take the first watch, then in a few hours it'll be your turn."

Jack didn't get far to standing up before Lara grabbed him by the jacket and stopped him, indicating that she wasn't done. Now kneeling, Jack looked to her as she straightened herself out before she asked him "So Jack, does this mean we're good? That we're gonna be friends now again?"

Jack merely shrugged his shoulders before answering honestly "Yeah. I guess so. A new start as friends."

"Good. Now that that's done with," said Lara before giving Jack yet another surprise. In a quick motion lasting barely a few seconds, Lara leaned in, planted a quick kiss on Jack's lips, surprising him completely as evident by the look upon his face before he managed to recover from it a few seconds later. Seeing this, Lara then pulled back to rest against the wall to give a smile at Jack. The kiss was short, but there was enough thought into it for it to feel like something. Lara's lips were soft, almost as soft as Jack remembered them. He knew that she meant nothing romantic by what she just did, but he still took it as a good sign as to their friendship. This kiss was probably the last one that Jack would ever get from her, but it was enough for Jack. With a final smile, he picked up her cap and placed it back on her head before standing back up and taking position as a lookout. Hopefully this would be another quiet night for them.

* * *

_Meanwhile, back at Randgriz_

The city gates opened wide as a large convoy of German trucks, vehicles, and more moved through, driving on the road that lead westward towards Amaranthine Forest, or more specifically, the villages that were in between Randgriz and the forest where the Gallian forces were currently camped out. A full compliment of thousands of German troops, the Death Korps of Krieg division that broke the Siege of Aslone, along with armor and artillery support, were now heading directly towards the Gallian forces. Lelouch was beginning to become impatient, waiting for Welkin and his forces to come here on their own. So now he came up with a way to draw them out by force and have them fight their way towards the city.

The Death Korps would establish themselves in the villages near the Eastern outskirts of the forest, as well as creating a few more camps in between them and behind the villages as well. Their presence alone, so close to the Gallian encampment, would perhaps be enough to convince them to act. And having actual reports on how the Gallians fight in the next couple of days would be enough to help analyze their strategies to help reevaluate Lelouch's defenses inside the city. Help him prepare for what to expect. And as he watched the convoy head out from the top of the wall, woth the headlights from the vehicles helping to light there way, Lelouch could only give a wicked smile before muttering to himself "Okay Gunther, let's see what you're made of."

_"We didn't realize it at that point, but things were going to get a lot more complicated. We had little warning that the Death Korps itself was coming. These guys specialty was in siege warfare. They had already broken the Siege of Aslone in a mere night, and now it seemed that Lelouch intended for them to lay siege to our encampment in the forest. It..wasn't what I expected to be honest. But then again, nothing Lelouch does is ever predictable. He played his hand and moved his pieces into play upon the board. Not it was our turn to do the same. On the next day, we could only hope that whatever we did next wouldn't cost us the war." - Jack Lawrence_

* * *

**And there you go, a hundred chapters of my story now officially completed. I know that this story is probably longer than most of you figured that it would be. But rest assured that even though that's a fact, I will finish this story one day. Mark my words...though I'm not sure I should have said that because in my experience that never goes well for guys who say that.**

**Anyway I thought that Jack and Lara making up and finally putting all the bad blood between them behind would be a good idea for the hundredth chapter. Just my personal opinion. Other than that, Lelouch has now forces his hand and is sending soldiers to confront the Gallians. The First Battle of Randgriz...is about to begin.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	101. The Battle of Randgriz Begins

_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes only.)_

_April 28, 1935_

_Amaranthine Forest_

_Dawn_

A new day dawns in Gallia, still divided by the war, as the German supported Gallian Reich held onto it's ground and what remained of the Gallian military converged in Amaranthine Forest to mount a counter-attack against Randgriz. At the series of foxholes on the ridges along the Eastern edge of the forest, the central one was where Jack and Lara were supposed to be guarding, having taken turns as sentry while the other one slept for a few hours. However, neither of them were currently acting as the sentry because the both of them were at this moment asleep. Apparently at some point during the night, the both of them became so tired that probably neither of them realized that they were drifting off to sleep. Lara was currently curled up, lying on the dirt ground as she used her backpack as a pillow, while Jack merely leaned against the wall of the foxhole, his head slowly leaning over to one side, dragging his sleeping body with him. Eventually he leaned just a little too far and his body fell completely to the side, landing on the dirt ground, with Jack's head hitting his helmet which he had taken off during the night. The impact was hard and painful enough that it woke Jack up with him letting out a groan from the slight pain to his head.

He slowly got back up, opening his eyes and letting them adjust back to the light. Taking a few moments to survey his surroundings, he realized quickly that both he and Lara had fallen asleep and weren't keeping watch like they were supposed to. That meant that the Germans might have been able to sneak up to the Gallian lines and set up advance positions while they got shut eye. The thought of that stuck in his mind, he began to panic as he scrambled to put on his helmet and grab his weapon before getting back up on his feet to look out at the country side. When he first laid eyes on the horizon, he had hoped to see it empty and German free. However, what he really saw wasn't what he hoped for.

At the nearby village, across a wide farm field that was full of dead crops and a few bomb craters, he could see activity occurring there. The village itself was shaped like a large triangle, with groupings of buildings at each point of that triangle and a windmill in the center. Two points of the village faced the field with the third point a bit farther off and pointing directly towards the East. Jack couldn't tell from this distance precisely what was going on, but he could faintly see something red in the distance which made him feel that something big was going on in that village. Bending down and picking up a pair of binoculars, he stood back up and used the binoculars to get a better look at what was going on.

From what he can see, the Germans had already moved into the village and were in the midst of preparing for something. They had already established some basic defenses such as sandbags, machine gun emplacements, and much of their defense was located along a waist high stone wall on the side of the village that faced the ridges and the field. He could also see a few armored cars and even a Tiger tank down there as well, being placed along the roads leading into the village. Jack also managed to recognize the German troops there as those belonging to the infamous Death Korps. He knew that if these guys were here, then the whole army was in serious danger. Jack wasn't sure what else was going on down there, but from the looks of it, Lelouch had finally decided to bring the fight to them. They had to warn the others before the Germans could enact whatever orders their commanders had sent to them.

Acting with no time to lose, Jack reached down to Lara and tried shaking her so that she would wake up. However, it didn't seem to work so instead he decided to go to Plan B: simply shouting 'WAKE UP!' at the top of his lungs. Immediately, a startled Lara rose up and from under her backpack pillow, her hand appeared with a loaded Webley revolver in it, and Jack suddenly found it pointed at him.

Freaking out, he raised his hands as if surrendering and pleaded with Lara "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don't shoot the Yankee! DON'T SHOOT THE YANKEE!"

Lara, now aware of what's happening, breathed out a sigh of relief before lowering her gun. Looking at Jack, she scolded him by saying "Damn it Jack. I told you never to do that."

"Well sorry I didn't know you still slept with a gun under your pillow. I thought you stopped doing that when the war with the Soviets ended," countered Jack, telling her he thought she was done with the whole 'sleep with a gun' phase. Lara would often do so during the Soviet-American War, particularly after surviving the Siege of Anchorage. She described it as a precaution in case the Red Army ever attacked their camp during the night while they all slept. But this also made it a little a little dangerous to try and wake Lara up like Jack did as she would instinctively take out her pistol and point it at whoever did the waking. Jack had been on the receiving end of that once or twice back during the war. He only woke her up like that when there was something really important that they needed to know about. He had thought that she stopped doing this when the war ended, but as he just realized...it certainly wasn't the case.

"Okay aside from me still sleeping with a gun, what's so important that you had to wake me up?" asked Lara, wondering what all the fuss was about.

Jack handed her the binoculars which Lara easily figured out that Jack wanted her to look for something out in the distance. She took the binoculars from Jack and stood back up with him before doing what he suggested and looking out into the distance, eventually coming up on the now German occupied village. When she put down the binoculars, Jack could see the look on her face had the same amount of shock that Jack had a few minutes ago. Turning her head to look at him, the two quickly figured out what they needed to do next.

"We should tell Welkin," said Jack.

He was soon followed by Lara who said quickly and urgently "Good idea."

And with that, the two of them quickly scrambled. Grabbing their weapons, they piled out of the foxhole and ran as fast as their legs could carry them into the forest to try and find Welkin. As they ran through the forest, they hoped to themselves that they weren't too late in alerting the Gallians about an impending German attack.

* * *

In the village, the Death Korps soldiers continued to set up their defenses and fortify the town. They had been at this since midnight last night when they arrived in this village and the ones on their flanks to the north and south. Most of their forward defenses were already in place, which allowed them to bring up their artillery, specifically, they had brought with them four one hundred and five millimeter Kanone 18 model field artillery cannons. These were artillery pieces crafted by the Death Korps and used throughout the German Army. And here they would be used to draw out the Gallians from hiding within their forest and begin the fight that both sides had been preparing for.

Watching his troops use their trucks, with the artillery hitched up behind them, the soldiers used the trucks to maneuver the artillery into position in front of the windmill and pointed directly at the forest, the Death Korps Captain awaited word from Randgriz that would authorize him to begin the bombardment against the Gallian forces camped within the forest. His unit specialized in siege warfare and defensive battles. And here they were going to have both of them. Once they opened fire with their cannons and begun laying siege to the Gallian encampment, the Gallians would send their troops to the village in order to take them out. And when they would come, the Death Korps would be waiting for them and would give them a welcome with bullets, shells, and explosives. This was going to be a glorious day for the Death Korps.

Suddenly, one of his soldiers approached the Captain and after giving him a quick salute, he handed him a folded piece of paper before reporting "Message from the capital sir. Just received it via radio."

The Captain took the paper and unfolded it to read the message. The message said 'Death Korps are cleared to engage the enemy. You may fire when ready Captain. - L.v.B'

Hidden beneath his skull like gas mask, a smile appeared on the Captain's face. Now that he had been given clearance to engage, the real fun was about to start. Looking to his men who hadn't yet detached the artillery from the trucks that were towing them, caused him to yell at them like a Drill Sergeant, shouting "Move it! We just got clearance to fire! I want those guns ready to fire within the hour! MOVE!"

With that, his men suddenly began moving a lot faster to get the guns up and ready.

* * *

_Meanwhile, in Amaranthine Forest_

The Gallians were beginning to wake up at dawn in order to prepare for yet another long day of preparations and training for their march upon the capital city. Like yesterday, most of them were having breakfast while others went straight to work. In one section of the camp, Samus Aran was working on her set of T-45 Ragnite Power Armor, doing diligent work on maintaining it and checking to see if everything was in proper working order. Her Power Armor was a special set because it was the very first one that rolled off the production lines back in America. She had received it due to her assistance during the final stages of the T-45's development back in 1932. And ever since then, she's used this set of armor, quickly establishing herself as the poster girl for the Ragnite Power Armor Corps, or RPAC as it was known in the Army.

As she had finished with one set of maintenance, Daniel came by with a small box filled with random parts that she would need later. He had asked her earlier if he could help but she declined, saying that she already knew what needed to be done, even though she did ask for Daniel to head off and get her some parts from the motor pool, which he did. Daniel knew quite a bit about Ragnite Power Armor, mainly from the notes that and blueprints he found in his father's desk back home and look at whenever he had the chance. Daniel's father, Drake Marks, was a former soldier during the Second Mexican-American War that waged from 1916-1920. After he left the military when the war ended, he ended up being the foreman of a local manufacturing plant near his home. It was there that he came up with the initial designs for the T-45. He took the designs to the military and they accepted them. They gave Drake access to the materials and the funds he would need for his research and when the final stages of the testing were being done, they hired Samus Aran, a promising young soldier, to field test the armor. With the tests proving successful, the first batches were ordered for manufacture right in time for the war which started a few weeks after the first sets of armor rolled off the assembly line.

Putting the box down beside Samus, and then taking a seat on a nearby crate, he looked to her, saw her face covered in oil smudges from her work, and asked her "You know you would get this done faster if you had some help right?"

"This set of armor was given to me by your father, the man who designed these things. I'll handle the maintenance on my own suit if you don't mind," said Samus as she moved to the back of the suit where a compartment held the miniature Ragnite reactor that powered the suit. It was stored in the back plate of the armor and was small enough to minimize space but it was also powerful enough to work the armor and keep it functional for a long while. And another bright side was that it allowed the suit to function without Samus took out the sphere shaped Ragnite reactor and put it down on a crate as she began filling it with Ragnoline.

"Look I get that you're fond of this thing and considering how proficient you are with it that's also understandable. But I do know how these things work. I've seen the blueprints from my father's desk when he was designing it," countered Daniel, still offering his assistance.

"Just because you looked at your father's blueprints a hundred times doesn't make you a mechanic. And besides, your father made a few design changes during the development. The kind that didn't show up on the blueprints you have. And I've been doing maintenance on this thing long enough to know every last part and where it goes. Trust me, I'm fine," commented Samus, once again turning down Daniel's offer to help her out. With that in mind, Samus loaded the now fueled Ragnite core back into the machine and continued with her maintenance.

As she was working, she got the nagging feeling that someone was behind her. Finally, after a minute of having this feeling, she calmly looked behind her and she saw Isara Gunther, being curious and inquisitive as she looked at the Power Armor and it's components. When she first saw the American T-45's back at Fort Drakon, Isara was quite fascinated by them and wanted to learn more about them. In fact, when she normally saw a new and interesting piece of technology, she had this urge to take it apart and study it before trying to figure out how to put it back together. She guessed that being an engineer like her father was what caused this interest. And right now, it was the Ragnite Power Armor that had piqued her interest. However, her staring at the armor was making Samus a little uncomfortable. So much so that she asked Isara "Um...can I help you with something?"

Her words seemed to snap Isara out of her gaze that she looked up to Samus and replied back with "Oh, sorry. I was just curious about your suit."

"Samus, this is Isara Gunther. She's Lieutenant Gunther's little sister. Jack told me about her. Said that she was pretty good with tech and engineering. Kid, this is Samus Aran, the first person to use Power Armor," said Daniel, introducing the two to each other as he takes his canteen and takes a sip from it.

"So I take it that you're interested in this?" asked Samus, pointing to her set of Power Armor.

Isara merely nodded her head in reply and said "Yes."

Samus really didn't know what to think of the girl. On one hand, it was a little off putting how she simply stood behind her and watched as she worked on her suit without saying much of a word. It wasn't exactly something that people normally did. But then again, the girl did seem pretty honest in her interest about the Ragnite Power Armor and how it worked. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if she decided to indulge the girl in her curiosity and tell her as much as she could about the Power Armor and how it worked. It was a lot of information, but Isara seemed willing to learn so there was most likely no harm in trying to teach her. With a sigh, she gestured for the girl to come over to show her what she could, which Isara happily accepted, heading to Samus's side. As Samus started teaching her, Daniel looked upon this and asked "You'd teach her but you won't let me help you?"

"Look at this face. Who can say no to that?" said Samus, pointing to Isara's innocent and adorable little face, which very few could deny was something that was hard to say no to. There was just something about Isara that was so sweet and adorable that it was just hard for some people to say 'no' to her, as some member of Squad 7 had found out already.

"Okay well why are you so interested in the Power Armor anyway kid?" inquired Daniel, being curious as to Isara's interest.

"I'm an engineer. Things like this make me curious. We don't have anything like this here in Gallia," answered Isara as honestly as she could. Her honesty was enough that it caused a smile to appear on Daniel's face.

"Of that I have no doubt. These things here are one of a kind and made directly in the U.S.A.," replied Samus, seemingly taking pride in that statement.

"You said your dad was the one who made these. Is that true?" asked Isara, looking at Daniel.

"So you heard that huh? Yeah, my old man was a soldier. After the war he wanted to make something that would protect other soldiers in a fight. After ten years of designing, he came up with this. Now it's one very useful tool in our arsenal," explained Daniel.

"And this little beauty is all mine. First one they ever made. These things can take a flesh and blood soldier and make them unstoppable," added Samus, showing her thinking that Power Armor soldiers were superior over regular infantry in many other ways.

"That may be true. But that thing still didn't help you surpass Jack," said Daniel with a chuckle. The mention of that caused Samus's expression to change completely as she merely glared at Daniel for a few seconds before getting back to work.

Noticing how quickly her attitude changed when Daniel made his comment, it made Isara wonder what the problem with this was. But she quickly pushed that thought out of her head and returned back to listening to Samus instruct her on the finer points of the T-45's design and it's components. Learning from her, they went over the weapons Power Armor soldiers could use with this, some more of the technical specs, as well as how they were made. Daniel lent his knowledge on this as well, eventually becoming the second teacher in this little session. A session that was about to be cut short.

* * *

The Germans had now unhitched the artillery and set them up. Now they were merely in the process of bringing up the crates of ammunition. All of this was being done at a fast pace as the Death Korps Captain wanted to begin the bombardment as soon as possible. Several pairs of Death Korps soldiers raced back and forth between the trucks and the artillery cannons, and stacking up the crates of one hundred and five millimeter ammunition for the cannons. Once all the crates were stacked and ready to go, the Death Korps Captain signaled to the Sergeant in charge of the artillery to begin by handing over to him a slip of paper detailing the first set of coordinates on where they would fire. Before they arrived, the artillerymen were given a map of Amaranthine Forest with a grid pattern on it to show grids where the Germans would concentrate their artillery fire. With the coordinates given to the artillery Sergeant, he looked to his men and gave the orders "Grid 2-6-4-2! Aim the cannons!"

With that, the Death Korps soldiers working the artillery instantly sprang into action. They opened four crates, grabbing a one hundred and five millimeter artillery shell and loaded it into the cannon. At the same time, other members of the Death Korps manned the aiming systems of the cannons, raising the barrels high into the air as they zeroed in on their target. Once all four cannons were aimed and ready to fire, they looked to their Captain for further orders. Wanting to have said this for a while now, the Captain yelled at the top of his lungs, shouting _"Feuer Frei!"_

The Germans immediately fired the cannons, resulting in four deafening booms as the shells were launched high into the air and heading toward their targets at great speed.

* * *

The resounding thuds from the artillery going off could be heard throughout the Gallian encampment, catching everyone's attention. Stopping what they were doing, they all looked around trying to figure out where that sound was coming from and precisely what it was that caused that sound. A few seconds later, all went to hell as the shells struck the ground near a couple of Gallian tents. The shells fired by the German artillery were high explosive rounds, so when they detonated, it resulted in a large fireball and blast that burned anything it touched and sent pieces flying everywhere. This included a few people as a dozen Gallians were killed by the initial blasts, being in close proximity to each other when the shells detonated.

Panic soon ensued once that happened and everyone within the encampment scrambled to react to this. Many ran for whatever cover they could find, others went to grab their weapons and gear, expecting the German troops to arrive and attack them once the bombardment stopped. And in between the artillery strikes, the air was filled with screaming and shouting as the panicking Gallians tried to get organized. Racing through the camp, hoping to avoid the artillery strikes, Lara and Jack raced over to where Squad would be, hoping to find out if Welkin had a plan to respond to the German bombardment. At least now they won't have to admit that the Germans managed to sneak up this close to the Gallians. The artillery barrage already did it for them.

They eventually found them by their camp, having hunkered down behind whatever cover they could find, be it sandbags, the _Edelweiss_, or even a small pile of crates. But at least they were all still alive, if a little shaken up though. Jack and Lara rushed over to Welkin, Alicia, Largo, and Rosie, who were hunkering down beside the _Edelweiss_ and took up position next to them. Once they were there, Jack looked at Welkin and remarked "I was about to tell you I had some bad news. But considering the whole artillery barrage, I think you already know what I was about to say."

"How did the Germans even get this close?" asked Welkin, wanting to know how this was even possible.

"We figured they must have sneak up on us during the night. How we didn't see them we don't have a clue," said Lara, being sure not to mention how they basically slept while on sentry duty and didn't alert anyone about this earlier. Though Welkin figured that they weren't telling the whole truth and wanted to make them explain further, asking them this question in the middle of an artillery bombardment was probably not the best time to do so. As soon as Lara finished her statement however, another four shells were fired from the German cannons and they impacted the camp seconds later, with everyone immediately hugging their cover as the explosions occurred.

Once that next barrage was over and the squad lifted their heads back up, they saw Major's Blackadder and Isabella, along with Faldio, Samus, Daniel, and Isara in tow, having found them on the way over here, rushed over to their position, managing to reach them and kneel once they were next to each other. Isara rushed over to Welkin's side and gave him a hug, glad to see that he was safe, with Welkin doing the same. Blackadder wasted no time getting to the point by saying "Lieutenant! We need to pull everyone back! We're too vulnerable here!"

"We can't just run, we need to push forward! Take out the German cannons!" countered Faldio, saying that they needed to turn and fight instead of run. And then another round of shells impacted at the camp.

"We don't even know where those guns are Lieutenant Landzaat!" pointed out Isabella.

"We do actually," mentioned Jack, as he and Lara slowly raised their hands, signalling that they did know the answer. They didn't think of it at the time but now with the artillery barrage it suddenly made sense to them. The village that their sentry post overlooked was the only place large enough in the area that the Germans could fortify and move in some heavy artillery.

Looking at them, Alicia asked them "And where would that be?"

"When we got enough sunlight, we could see a whole lot of Germans in the village near our sentry post. I'd bet that the Nazis set up their cannons down there," informed Lara, telling them what they figured out.

"So now we know where we are, but we still don't know what we're going to do now," summarized Largo, who wanted to know what they were doing now so they would get up and do something instead of just hiding here waiting for the next artillery barrage which came a few seconds later after he said that, causing everyone to take cover until it was over.

"What we should do is pull back and get out of range of these cannons. At least then we'll be safe enough to plan our next move instead of staying in this forest," suggested Blackadder, knowing that if they stayed any longer here, more of their soldiers would be killed by the German cannons. And he wasn't looking forward to being blasted to pieces anytime soon.

"The Germans will just keep following us no matter where we go. I say we take the fight to them. Put them on the defensive for once," countered Faldio, still believing that the best defense for them was offense.

The moment he said that, he received a glare from Major Blackadder who reprimanded him by saying "The Germans know we're here because Lieutenant Gunther basically blurted out where we'd be. It doesn't matter where we go from here. The Germans will be close behind us all the time. We can't-"

"No offense Major, but maybe we should make the decision now instead of arguing about it?" interrupted Daniel, seeing that arguing about this wasn't going to solve anything. It would just give the Germans more time to bombard their positions before they would most likely send in tanks and infantry to clear them out. The two of them stopped their bickering immediately before they and the other officers looked at each other, each one hoping that they would at least come to a decision...and fast.

* * *

At the village, as the Germans continued their bombardment of the Gallian camp within Amaranthine Forest, the Germans enacted the second stage of the plan. Now that they had gotten the Gallians attention, now it was time to draw them out of hiding and pull them into the fight down by this village. The Captain of the Death Korps soldiers here figured that the Gallians were most likely on their way here now, so he decided to give them a little incentive to have them arrive just a little quicker. Assembling half a company of soldiers, he had them march out into the field, spread out and weapons ready. They continued to march towards the ridges which they would climb over and work to lure the Gallians over to the German defenses at the village.

_"The First Battle of Randgriz began that day. The first day...of what would be one of the biggest and bloodiest battles of the war." - Jack Lawrence._

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**The battle that many of you had been waiting for has officially begun. What will happen next? Wait until the next chapter to find out.**

**Also, as a side note, I'm going to publish an official timeline of the "On the Gallian Front" on this site sometime later in the future. It'll pretty much cover the history of this world from the events of the Darcsen Calamity up to the first day of the Gallian-Germanian War. It'll be the official timeline of this world and as I progress further in his series of stories, I'll be adding more information to the timeline. I'll be making some corrections to parts of the story in order for the history to fit the timeline. Nothing major will be changed. Mainly just a few small details here and there. **

**But in short, be on the lookout for my timeline on the list of stories on my profile page. You'll like what you read...hopefully.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


	102. Battle of Randgriz: First Skirmish

_**Sorry for the long wait everyone. Been really busy as of late, and with finals coming up in a few weeks things will be even more hectic for me. Other than that, here is the next chapter.**_

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_(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)_

As the Germans slowly advanced up the ridge, the Gallians moved to try and move whatever troops they could to the forest outskirts to try and repel whatever soldiers the Germans would be heading their German bombardment had already come to an end, and that meant that the Germans would no doubt be sending in the ground troops. Welkin, Faldio, Alicia, Jack, Isara, Rosie, and Largo managed to gather up what Militiaman and Regular they could round up and head towards the outskirts while Majors Blackadder and Isabella worked to try and get everyone into cover or to safety from the artillery blasts coming from the German occupied village. While they did that, Welkin and the others would try to repel any German force that was sent to try and push them out in the forest. Hopefully the hundred and fifty soldiers that managed to come with them, armed with their rifles, sub-machine guns, and light machine guns were enough to push them back.

The forest near the outskirts was pretty much nothing more than trees and bare ground, with no other types of foliage other than the grass outside of the forest. The Gallians took cover behind the trees and within the shallow ditches, banks, and dried up streams that were in the area and readied their weapons for when the Germans would appear. Since they would be trudging uphill, to get over the ridge and then march downhill several meters before crossing a small open field and into the forest, it gave the Gallians a bit of an advantage in that they could simply pick off an German soldier that came over the ridge before they could take cover. At least in theory this is what would happen. Reality in war was much less convincing than it was in a theory.

All they could hope for was that this force the Germans would send was't large enough that they could overrun them. And as they readied their weapons, Welkin looked to a nearby Gallian Regular armed with a GSR-M4 and managed to get his attention. In a soft voice as not to alert any approaching German soldier, Welkin instructed the Regular "The first German that comes over that ridge, take him out."

"Got it Lieutenant," said the Regular, nodding his head in acknowledgement as he loaded his rifle.

Jack, who was near Welkin, having taken position with Isara in a shallow ditch, was more than a little concerned over their current position right now. There were a lot of unknowns here in terms of what they would be up against. They didn't know if the Germans were just going to send in a lot of soldiers of if they would have tanks to support them. And to be fair, he wasn't too thrilled over the prospect of facing an army head on...again. Wanting an answer, he looked over to Welkin, with his M5A2 Folsom Carbine still in his hands, and asked him "Hey uh Welkin, not to dwell on the subject here but if you have a plan here...would you like to clue me in as to what it is?"

"Don't worry, I got it covered," said Welkin bluntly.

"That's it? 'I got it covered'? How's that supposed to make me feel any better?" questioned Jack, wondering how that was even an answer to begin with in the first place.

"Oh come on Jack, don't panic. When have I ever lead you astray?" asked Welkin, looking at Jack, and feeling that he was panicking for nothing here.

"Before this war started or after? Because I can give examples for both. For example, in this war you have already put us all in crazy situations. Like when we crossed a river to take on a thousand strong Nazi Army in Vasel. Or maybe how about how we ended up going up against a crazed Darcsen SS Lieutenant, twice. I can go on if you'd like," said Jack, being his usual mocking self when he mentioned all of this.

One look of disapproval from Welkin was all that it took to cause Jack to stop talking and return to the matter at hand. Readying their weapons, the Gallians could faintly begin to hear voices coming from the other side of the ridge. It was a little hard to make out who it was, but from the bits of words they could hear, it was definitely the Germans. And from the sounds of it, they were getting closer and closer to the top of the ridge. At any moment now, they would appear from behind and the firefight would officially begin between the two opposing armies. And it soon began when one of the Death Korps soldiers race up the ridge and quickly reached the top, managing to sight the Gallians as their blue uniforms did little to hide them within the forest.

Before he could alert the rest of his platoon, the Gallian Regular that Welkin instructed earlier took aim and fired at the German. The bullet went right through the Nazi's gas mask, entering right between the eyes of the mask, killing him instantly. The German fell to the ground and rolled down the side of ridge facing the Gallians, rolling all the way till his body reached the bottom. Almost immediately, the Gallians heard the shouting of a German officer, barking orders to his men in response to one of his men getting killed.

"Get ready kiddos. Looks like the fights about to begin," said Rosie, as she readied her BAR and loaded a fresh magazine into the gun and pointing it at the ridge, ready to kill any German soldier foolish enough to come over the ridge.

**Valkyria Chronicles OST - Hard Fight start**

Soon, the Germans appeared. Using the top of the ridge as cover, they laid down upon the slope near the top and opened fire upon the Gallians with their rifles and sub-machine guns, with the Gallians doing the same seconds later. The Germans, having the advantage of being on the higher ground, could see all the Gallian defenses and were able to inflict several casualties upon the Gallians in the opening seconds of the battle. The Gallians returned fire but the German's superior position, as well as the fact that the ridge served as good cover was enough to protect the Germans from most of the Gallian bullets, though the Germans did manage to lose a few men so far.

"Who the heck are these guys?! They're dropping us like flies!" shouted Alicia as she popped out of cover from behind a tree and fired a few shots with her Gallian-M4 before heading back into cover. The moment she did that, the sound of an MG42 firing away filled the air. The Germans managed to bring one up and set it up on the ridge line. One Death Korps soldier fired away at the Gallians with another one helping to load the ammo belts into the weapon. The result was that the Germans were beginning to make quick work of the Gallians, as they were now pinned behind the trees and in the shallow ditches.

"I know these guys boss! They're Death Korps soldiers!" said Largo, knowing full well who these soldiers were. During the Great War, where the Death Korps of Krieg was officially formed, the Gallian and Federation forces would have plenty of run ins with these soldiers in every major battle or offensive on the Western Front. And the Great War veterans of Squad 7 such as Largo have fought the Death Korps several times during the course of the war. And Largo certainly wasn't glad about having to fight them again.

"You got any pointers on how to stop them?!" inquired Welkin, loading some ammo into his Gallian 1889 Mauser rifle. If Largo had any ideas on how to stop these Death Korps soldiers, then Welkin was willing to listen.

"Only one thing we can do now! Kill every last one of them! They aren't gonna surrender to us!" said Largo, firing his Lancaar-M4 at the hill, with it detonating near the German machine gun, not not knocking it out. All it managed to do was shake up the soldiers a bit and cause them to duck for a few seconds behind the ridge line before getting their bearings once again and open fire upon the Gallians again.

Hiding in the shallow ditch with Isara, trying to not get hit by German bullets, Jack chastised Largo by noting "No offense Largo, but isn't that idea a little short on detail?! I'd prefer something with a little more info than just 'shoot them all' if you don't mind!"

Almost immediately after he said that, the Germans made their next move. Hearing their Sergeant point towards the pinned Gallians and shout out the word '_Angriff!'_, the Death Korps moved over the hill and slowly began to advance downhill at the Gallians, with each individual soldier firing their weapon as they advance along with the MG42 giving them cover fire. The German advance was something that the Gallians couldn't ignore but with the MG42 pinning them down, it was going to be hard for them to push them back. They needed to get out of the machine gun's line of sight by moving further into the forest and to lure the Germans in. It was probably the only way for the Gallians to be able to win this fight.

"Fall back! Everyone, pull back into the forest!" ordered Welkin, knowing that if the Germans get any closer, this position will be hopeless. Everyone immediately followed his order, heading out of cover and falling back to a defensive position deeper into the forest. As they fled, the Germans kept on firing away at them, managing to kill a few Gallians in the process. However, the Gallians also fired back as they fled, with a few of their shots hitting their mark, and killing a few Death Korps soldiers, evening the playing field a bit. The Germans continued to give chase, racing through the forest to what they perceived was the retreating Gallian Army. Their machine gun team soon picked up their weapons and raced to rejoin them. However, the German's overconfidence was about to become their undoing.

The Gallians had managed to reach a large stream, with the banks large enough to house them all and provide adequate cover. Once everyone left was inside, Welkin gave them the order to open fire. Soon, like a massed firing line, the Gallians opened fire on the Germans with rifle, sub-machine gun, and light machine gun fire. Add in the fact that the Germans were now out in the open among the trees, it made the Gallian's job all the more easier, with many of the Death Korps soldiers cut down in the massed volleys of bullets coming their way.

The remaining Death Korps soldiers took cover behind the trees and returned fire, though their numbers were now greatly reduced. Add in the fact that they had lost their superior position on the ridge, they were now more vulnerable to enemy fire. It seemed that for once, the Gallians now held the advantage in a firefight over the German forces, who in this case didn't have any of their fearsome Panzers to support their advance. The Gallians took full advantage of this and hit the Germans with just about everything they had, slowly managing to dwindle the German's numbers.

Alicia, standing beside Welkin, lined up a shot at a Death Korps soldier armed with an Stg44 and waited for him to pop out of cover. Once the soldier did, Alicia off a few rounds at her target with one hitting the tree the German was using for cover. The remaining two rounds struck the German, hitting him in the chest and neck, and he fell to the ground, having died instantly from his wounds. The rest of the Gallians soon made short work of the remaining German soldiers, who were wiped out within a matter of minutes, with their Sergeant and the machine gun team being the last ones to be killed.

Once it was clear that the Germans were all dealt with, the remaining Gallians climbed out of the ditch and proceeded to strip the Germans of their weaponry and any usable gear. While they did this, Welkin, Isara, Alicia, and Faldio went to discuss their next move now that the Death Korps soldiers had been defeated. Meanwhile, in another area, Jack, Rosie, and Largo were busy rummaging through the dead German's uniforms for anything that could prove useful. Aside from the weapons, gear, and the extra ammo, there really wasn't anything else that was interesting enough for them. They were hoping to find something like orders from the Black Prince or some kind of new toy the German soldiers were using, but alas they found none of those things.

"I'll say this about the Germans, they sure are a tenacious bunch of people," commented Largo as he was sifting through one of the dead German's pockets, finding some ammo.

"Tell me about it. We took out what? Thirty or something guys? Imagine what it'll be like when we have to take back all of Randgriz," added Rosie, and she wasn't wrong. The German bombardment and this small force of Death Korps soldier had no doubt cost them a lot of soldiers. They couldn't even imagine the amount of people they would lose once the official assault on the capital began. No doubt a lot of blood would be spilled on both sides before this battle was over. They just hoped that the Gallians would win this fight.

"Hey guys, look at what I got," said Jack, who wasn't too far away from them. The two looked to his direction and saw Jack holding a Death Korps signature gas mask and helmet which were joined together. Walking over to them, Jack looked over it as if it was some kind of intriguing object. Once he got to them, he handed it over to Largo who looked it over as well. He had seen the Death Korps in their signature helmets, but never held one of them in his hands. He would have to give them this: with these helmets it would be pretty easy to scare anyone with them. Pure psychological warfare just by wearing these helmets.

"I can see the reason they wear these. If I saw an army of these guys charging at me I probably would have run," said Rosie, commenting on the helmet.

"Why didn't you run while the gas mask goons were attacking us?" asked Jack, the though just now appearing in his mind.

"I said if it was an army, I would run. This was thirty guys. There's a difference," corrected Rosie.

"Either way, I'm keeping this thing. It could be one heck of a prize to bring back home," said Jack, taking the helmet from Largo. He took off his helmet before putting the Death Korps helmet on his head. However, a few moment later, they heard Jack's voice through the speaker on the gas mask, saying "I can't see anything in this helmet. It's wearing a blindfold over my head. Speaking of which, it's stuffy as hell in this thing. How do the Germans stand wearing this?"

To compliment this, Jack was reaching out with his hands, though neither Largo or Rosie could tell if he was trying to feel anything around him or he was trying to see if he could see his own hands through the gas mask helmet. To the two Gallians watching this, it was kind of amusing to watch their resident Yankee look like he was fumbling through the dark blindly. Snickering a bit at what they were seeing, they couldn't help but continue to watch Jack as he began to try and take the helmet off, only to find out that it was stuck. And no matter how hard he tried to pull it off, it just wouldn't budge. With this knowledge, Rosie and Largo began laughing a little louder, to which Jack heard them. And as he was still struggling to get the helmet off, he cried out to the two "This isn't funny guys! Help me get this damn thing off my head! NOW!"

"Okay sure we will, but first we got to do something," said Rosie, with a wicked smile on her face. She had just come up with a funny idea for something they could do to Jack before they would help him take the helmet off his head. And from one look at Largo's face, they could tell that he had the same idea as her. Grabbing Jack and turning him around, they calmly lead him forward, pushing him all the way in the direction that they wanted him to go.

"Where are you two taking me? Guys? What's happening? I can't see where I'm going," inquired Jack, wondering what the hell was going on.

"Oh trust us, you'll be fine. Hopefully," answered Largo.

"Hopefully? Hopefully?!" questioned Jack, now feeling a little bit worried about this and wondering what the two were planning.

* * *

Meanwhile, Welkin and the others were talking to a Gallian soldier from the camp who had returned with the figures of how many people they had lost from the German attack. From what they found out, at least a few dozen were killed by the bombardment, and another thirty were killed by the Death Korps infantry, bringing the total amount of dead Gallians to about eighty dead or wounded. Normally, a commander would call these kind of losses on both sides to be even, but it wasn't like that for the Gallians. Lelouch's army outnumbered them greatly and had superior weapons and vehicles. The Gallians would need to be very careful in order to avoid excessive losses. Even the loss of soldiers would greatly decrease their chances of retaking the city, as the Germans would merely shrug off these losses and bring up two thousand men to replace them. If they were going to break the German blockade and retake those three villages, they would need to be smart and be careful that they don't suffer anymore excessive losses. And for that, they would need a plan.

"Got any ideas Welkin?" asked Faldio, wondering what they would do next.

"Not at the moment. For now we should just pull back and reorganize. Plan our assault once we're out of range of those cannons," said Welkin, not being able to come up with any winning plan at the moment. For now, he figured that they would have to get their forces to safety before the Germans would start another bombardment at any moment.

"I actually agree with you on that. We won't be of much use if we're constantly having to keep our heads down," agreed Faldio. He knew that their troops wouldn't be able to do anything if they kept having to seek cover from the German artillery. It was probably best if they moved to safety and planned their next move there before they do anything else.

"I'm surprised Faldio. I thought you would have chosen to just attack them here and then," said Alicia, surprised to see Faldio show some restraint for once. It definitely was different than what she had seen so far about Faldio.

"I have enough sense to know when there is a time to retreat Alicia. And I know that we won't be of much use to anyone if we keep running for cover every time we hear artillery shells raining down on us," replied Faldio.

"I though Jack said that Lelouch was going to wait for us to come to him. Why attack us now?" inquired Isara, a little curious as to the German attack. She was wondering why all of a sudden, the Germans have come here in force where they could have done the same several days ago. Heck, if he wanted to be rid of them in the first place, he could have sent a whole squadron of _Luftwaffe_ bombers and blow them all sky high. She kept wondering to herself what had changed.

"I guess he got tired of waiting. Figured he'd bring the fight to us instead of the other way around," suggested Alicia, coming up with one possible reason why.

"Well Jack did say Lelouch wasn't a predictable person. I guess we just expected he's wait for us to come to him. Now it looks like he's brought the fight to us. Still, we may have to talk to Jack and see if he can enlighten us on what Lelouch may do next," said Welkin, summing up his own thoughts on the subject.

"Speaking of Jack, where is he?" inquired Isara.

"Hi guys," said Jack's voice. Largo and Rosie had placed him behind Faldio and took a few steps back for what would happen next. Upon hearing his name called out, despite the helmet blocking his hearing partially. Faldio was the first one to turn around, and once he saw the Death Korps helmet, things took an interesting turn. Startled by what he saw, Faldio instantly thought Jack was a German soldier and reacted to the situation as best as he could. He pulled back his fist, balled it up, and then with a mighty heave, he punched Jack right on the skull like face plate on the gas mask helmet. The blow was enough to knock Jack right onto his back and cause Faldio a small bit of pain for his hand.

Largo and Rosie started laughing at what just happened, with it all being more than they had hoped would happen. And all the while, Jack is lying on the ground, moaning in pain from the punch. However, he also noticed that Faldio's punch had somehow managed to help loosen the helmet's grip on Jack's head...along with the punch managing to crack one of the glass lenses as well. Wasting no time, Jack grabbed the helmet and pulled it off his head, taking a deep breath in the pure, unfiltered air once the helmet was off for good. And it felt good to breath in air that wasn't being recycled through the filters of the gas mask because after a while the air just tasted very strange. That, and being in that stuffy helmet was like being in a sauna, causing his hair to become damp and sweat to appear on his face. Honestly, Jack was wondering how it was possible that the Death Korps soldiers could be able to fight while wearing something like this. He was in it for barely ten minutes and he couldn't wait to take it off.

Looking at the others, they had a curious look on their faces as they tried to make sense out of what was happening. When Alicia was about to open her mouth and ask what was going on, Jack beat her to the punch by saying "You don't want to know."

After that, Jack got back up on his feet and looked at Largo and Rosie, who had finished laughing but now had two mischievous grins on their faces from remembering the moment. Jack on the other hand, had a more annoyed look as he crossed his arms, with the Death Korps helmet in hand. He merely looked at them and mockingly said "Oh you two think this is so funny don't you?"

"Yeah, hence the laughter Yankee," remarked Rosie with a giggle.

"Oh really? Well here's a joke for you. _Roses are red, and violets are blue. This helmet stinks and so do you!_" Said Jack in retaliation. And as he said the poem, he took the helmet and shoved Rosie's head right into it. Now it was Rosie's head that was stuck inside the helmet. And just like Jack, she tried to pry it off but it just wouldn't budge. She even had to ask Largo for help in getting the damn thing simply walked off to get his M1 helmet back while Welkin, Alicia, Isara, and Faldio merely wondered what it was that they've missed out of all of this.

* * *

With the Gallians having suffered a good amount of dead soldiers for the day, the Death Korps Captain ordered for his soldiers to report back to Randgriz and inform them of their success. Meanwhile, he had the artillery batteries placed on standby and had his radio operator patch in to the capital. Once he had a secure connection, he handed the radio phone over to his Captain who spoke into it, saying "Your Majesty, are you there?"

_"I read you Captain. What is the current status of your operation?"_ asked Lelouch, on the other end of the call.

"We've made contact with the enemy and have caused over eighty casualties to the Gallian army," answered the Captain.

_"Good. Very good. It's a good start. Hold your position Captain and wait. The Gallians will soon come to take your village in the next couple of days. And when they arrive, I want you to make them pay dearly,"_ ordered Lelouch, who was glad to hear the initial report was going very well. With the Gallians now rattled from the attack, they will surely organize their forces and attempt to retaliate. Now all they needed to do was wait for them to make their next move.

"Understood your Majesty," said the Death Korps Captain before signing off and returning to his previous duties.

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Meanwhile, back at Castle Randgriz

With the call now over, Lelouch returned to the throne room where he had his men had turned into their command center, equipped with radios, charts, and more. There his men had moved in a large square shaped table where they placed a large map showing the city of Randgriz and the surrounding area all the way over to the Eastern edge of Amaranthine Forest and the three villages controlled by the _Wehrmacht_ units such as the Death Korps. Lelouch had placed chess pieces on the table to help outline his positions, with the black pieces representing his own forces, and specially painted blue ones to represent the Gallians. Looking it over closely, Lelouch saw an opportunity for something and decided to take advantage. Looking to one of his Lieutenants, Lelouch asked him "Who's in command of these Calamity Raven soldiers my brother sent here?"

"I don't know your Majesty," said the Lieutenant. The moment he said that, Lelouch gave him an stare which sent shivers down the German Lieutenant's spine. Clearly he had given the wrong answer to the Black Prince's question.

"That wasn't the answer that I wanted to hear Lieutenant," confirmed Lelouch.

"I-I'll go find out y-your Majesty," said the Lieutenant, stuttering as the words came out of his mouth.

"Now _that_, is the answer I was looking for. And when you're done finding that out, bring their commanders in here at once. I have a task for them," said Lelouch, giving the Lieutenant his instructions. The German officer gave his commander a salute before rushing off to fulfill his task. Once he was gone, Lelouch looked back to the table and picked up a black knight chess piece that was placed within the city and calmly walked over to the other end of the map where the three villages and the Eastern edge of Amaranthine Forest were, twirling the chess piece in his hand with his fingers all the while. He then placed the piece a few inches away from the town the Death Korps occupied and made sure that it was facing the village. Smiling as he looked upon the map, he knew that it was only a matter of time before the Gallians would make their move, just as he knew they would. And once he had them right where he wanted them...he would destroy them.

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**So there you have it, the first battle...well more like a skirmish, of the Gallian campaign to liberate Randgriz has come and gone. Now you see that Lelouch has a plan for this. What will happen when the Gallians counter attack? What role does Calamity Raven have in Lelouch's plan? All will be answered in time.**

**As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.**

**Until then,**

**\- Heinkelboy05**


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